Little Princess
by VictoriaGrant
Summary: Pre- PD and with a different story- line, starts when Mia is ten months old- Please, please read and review! Sorry for the confusion, I got bored with my pen-name ;
1. Chapter 1

_This is going to be rather fluffy- a lot of Clarisse/Mia interaction, of course Josef will be in it and then Phillippe and Rupert, maybe Charlotte, depends on how far it goes... Please read and review, I hope you´ll all like it! :D_

"Mamam, do you have a moment?"

Clarisse Renaldi looked up from her paperwork and smiled at her son.

"Of course, Phillippe, do come in."

The prince closed the door behind him and stepped up to the queen´s desk, looking hesitant.

Clarisse Renaldi had come to San Francisco to help him organize moving back to Genovia after he had graduated from college.

Of course for Phillippe the week leading up to the flight home had more significance since he had recently broken up with his girlfriend Helen and now it was time to say goodbye to her and to their ten months old daughter Amelia.

Clarisse had met Helen a few times when the young woman and Phillippe had made arrangements about the child´s future but she had refused to meet her granddaughter, she had seen the girl once right after she had been born and it had been hard enough to give her back to her mother once she had held her granddaughter in her arms.

The queen feared that if she saw the child again now she wouldn´t want to keep out of Amelia´s life, she so much had wanted a daughter herself and now there was this little girl she could have spoiled and showered with affection and she couldn´t be a part of her life.

"Mamam?"

Clarisse realized that her son was still waiting in front of her desk.

"I´m sorry, Darling, you wanted to say?"

"Actually I wanted to ask you to reconsider your decision concerning Amelia."

"Phillippe-"

"Please, she´s ten months old now and you won´t see her again until she is eighteen, don´t you at least want to see her once?"

Clarisse leaned back in her chair.

"It´s not that I´m not interested in seeing her, Phillippe, I just- I´m scared."

"You are scared?"

Her son looked confused and Clarisse resigned herself to the fact that she obviously would have to offer him an explanation.

"Your father is very glad about the arrangements made, to him it´s uncomplicated and comfortable but to me it´s not, you know how much I love you and your brother but like almost every woman I so much wanted a daughter and now you have one and I can´t be a part of her life."

Her son looked surprised.

"But I thought you wanted it that way- I thought both you and Dad wanted that."

Clarisse sighed and finally got up from her chair, she stepped over to the window and looked out on the garden.

"It´s the only way if we want to give Amelia the chance to have a normal childhood, you know that we can´t meet her without security present and she would soon understand that something is different and then we would have to explain it to her."

"I´m sorry, I didn´t know you were so upset about it, I thought-" the prince bit his lip as Clarisse turned around to him.

"You thought you were the only one who was upset" she said softly and Phillippe nodded heavily.

"Yes, actually I did- it´s easier if you are too, though- are you sure you don´t want to see her before we go home?"

The queen briefly closed her eyes, then she made a decision.

"You are right, Dear, I will see her."

Her son smiled and hugged her gently before saying "I wanted to spend some time alone with Helen today, do you want to watch Mia for us?"

"You mean alone?"

"Of course- come on, you´ve raised us, you can manage a ten months old girl."


	2. Chapter 2

_Captain Weirdo: Thank you very much, I can see her reacting that way as well, she obviously didn´t but it´s fun to imagine it and the story will be really different from the story- line in the books and movies, so I´m looking forward to learn what you think of the next parts! :D_

_addlogcon: Aw, thanks- well, I thought I just had to try and have Clarisse be present in Mia´s life- and she´ll be very present but more of that later ;)_

_The Honourable Takeshismus: Thank you- I hope it´ll stay interesting for you of course, it´s going to be different and I have to admit it´ll have some very fluffy parts in it, I´m not necessarily a fan of fluff but well- it´ll not only be fluffy, there will also be conflict material- thanks again for reviewing, so here´s the next part._

"Josef?"

Clarisse approached the man standing at the window of her office.

He turned around, a smile on his face at the sight of her and the queen smiled back, glad that her friend was waiting for her, she desperately needed someone to talk to.

"Your Majesty- where have you been, I was thinking of looking for you."

"I walked Phillippe to the car- listen, what are you doing this afternoon?"

"Since you aren´t doing anything I thought I´d catch up on some paper work- why?"

"Well, it turns out I am doing something after all and I don´t want to be alone, so I thought you could be there with me."

"Of course, Ma´am."

"Don´t you even want to know what it is?"

"I do but it doesn´t really matter, I will be there in any case."

Clarisse briefly touched his arm to express her gratefulness.

"We are going to babysit my granddaughter."

"We- I thought you didn´t want to see her while you are here" he reminded her, his expression concerned, he always knew what she was thinking, knowing her better than anyone else.

"I know but it is so important to Phillippe and then eighteen years are a long time, who knows- anyway, Phillippe and Helen will bring her here at around three and pick her up again tonight."

"I´m your head of security and now you want me to be a baby sitter?"

Josef joked and Clarisse smiled innocently back at him, her voice teasing as she replied "Why, are you afraid of little girls?"

"I´m afraid of girls sometimes but they have to be a bit older than ten months."

"They do? How old exactly does a girl have to be to scare you then?"

"Old enough to be beautiful, Your Majesty."

His eyes were twinkling and Clarisse blushed, of course he was teasing her again, she should have known.

"I suppose I should stop asking" she lightly said, looking at her watch.

"It´s time for lunch, do you care to join me?"

"I´d be delighted."

He offered her his arm and Clarisse allowed him to lead her from the room, ignoring the strange tingling sensation in her stomach that was clearly caused by his closeness.

--

_Clarisse´s heart was pounding in her chest as she stood on the top of the stairs and watched her son lift his daughter out of the car._

_The girl had curly dark hair and was wearing a pale pink summer dress and matching shoes and at the moment she was screaming on top of her lungs._

_"Shh, honey, you are scaring your grandma" Phillippe tried to sooth her but the child didn´t pay attention to her father._

_"I´m sorry, she isn´t like this usually, she-" Phillippe´s voice trailed away when Clarisse took the baby away from him and the little princess instantly stopped crying and looked up at her grandmother curiously._

_"All right, I get it, no maternal genes" the prince grinned, then he kissed the queen´s cheek and tenderly ruffled Amelia´s hair._

_"So have fun, we´ll be back at around midnight."_

_"Take your time, Dear, we will be all right, won´t we, Darling?"_

_Clarisse cooed as she gently rocked the baby on her arm._

_Clarisse carried her granddaughter inside and met Josef in the hallway where he had been waiting for her._

_"Look, Amelia, this is Josef- Josef, Amelia."_

_"Good afternoon, Your Highness" Josef said, bowing and Clarisse laughed softly._

_"I´m sure she values your politeness, Josef, is tea served?"_

_"In your office, Ma´am."_

_When they arrived at the queen´s office Clarisse sat down on the sofa with Amelia on her lap, the little girl was now happily playing with her grandmother´s string of pearls._

_"You are a true girl, aren´t you, you already have a good taste in jewelry" Clarisse told the baby and Amelia looked up at her, her brown eyes sparkling._

_"She looks a lot like Phillippe" the queen observed as she stroked the girl´s hair, "it will be hard for Helen to watch her grow up, I think she still loves him very much."_

_"It will be even harder for him to not watch her grow up" Josef reminded her, moving from his position by the window over to the couch._

_"I know that but I simply can´t see a way to let Phillippe be a part of her childhood without her knowing who she is, it´s impossible and Helen and Phillippe both agree that they do want her to grow up in a normal fashion."_

_"Is growing up as royalty so very horrible?"_

_Josef sat down next to Clarisse and tickled the baby´s belly, making the small girl squirm and giggle._

_"If Helen had moved to Genovia with her and she´d grown up at the palace perhaps not but here- she would have to go everywhere with a bodyguard, the press would watch her every move- no, Josef, that´s no way of living for a child."_

_"You are probably right- like always. It´s just, even I can´t imagine not seeing her for so long, how much harder must it be for you?"_

_"Maybe not so much harder, you love Phillippe and knowing you you are in love with this young lady as well already" Clarisse smiled, watching as Amelia tugged at Josef´s shirt._

_"You´ve got me" he groaned, tickling the baby again and smiling when Amelia broke into another fit of giggles._


	3. Chapter 3

_addlogcon: Thank you, yeah, I thought it would be a very fitting quote ;)_

_LochinbluSpirit: Thanks a lot, I hope you´ll enjoy the next part as well!_

_The Honourable Takshismus: Thank you, I´m sorry it took so long, stupid school work, I´ll update now!_

_risingdancer: Thank you- well, there won´t be no cutting off in here ;) I´ve explained the whole f/ph thing on the review page btw- please keep reading and reviewing :)_

_bluegirl: Thank you- I´ll do now :D_

_In advance my apologies to all Helen fans, I´m not trying to make her a bad person in here, she´s just very young and it´s all a bit too much for her and I needed her to act that way, so I hope no one will have my head for it..._

"She is so adorable" Clarisse whispered as she watched her granddaughter sleep, she had wrapped Amelia into a blanket and put her into her own bed and now she and Josef were sitting at the window where they could keep an eye on the child, talking in hushed voices.

"She absolutely is but then how could she not, she´s your granddaughter after all" Josef replied before taking another sip of coffee, giving the queen time to get back in control of her emotions after the complement.

They both were aware that there was something between them that shouldn´t be and they also both knew that there was no way they could do anything about it but at least no one could take their time together away from them and they tried to make use of it as often as they dared.

"Thank you, Josef" the queen replied quietly, smiling at her friend.

The baby stirred and opened her eyes and Clarisse scooped her up into her arms.

"Hey, little princess, are you hungry?"

Amelia yawned widely and leaned against her grandmother´s shoulder as Clarisse carried her out of the room, followed by Josef.

"Have you ever fed a baby, Josef?"

"Obviously not- why, is it that hard?"

Clarisse laughed while placing Amelia in the high chair Phillippe had brought with him earlier.

"That depends on the baby- Phillippe always was exceptionally well behaved when it came to eating, I suppose mainly because he didn´t want to waste any food, Pierre on the other hand thought it to be a lot funnier to smear his food all over his clothes and mine as well if he got the chance."

"I can´t imagine Amelia acting like that" Josef smiled at the little girl who smiled back while playing with the spoon Clarisse had given her.

"Me not either but you never know- look, Amelia, potatoes and carrots, that sounds delicious, doesn´t it."

Clarisse sat down next to the princess and offered her a spoon full of food and to her relief the little girl ate without protests.

"Very good, Sweetheart" she praised her granddaughter after Amelia had finished her meal, then she turned to Josef who was watching her.

"Like what you see?"

She teased as she lifted her granddaughter up into her arms.

"Very much so- you should have had more children, handling a baby suits you extremely well."

"I would have loved to have more but Rupert thought two were more than enough- well, perhaps Amelia will move to Genovia once she´s come of age and then get married and have children herself- in about twenty years" she added, feeling sad.

"Don´t think about that now, it´ll only depress you- shall we go outside for a while?"

Clarisse nodded.

"That´s a good idea, it´s still rather warm and dinner won´t be served for another hour anyway."

--

Clarisse couldn´t really remember to have fallen asleep after she had put Amelia into her bed but obviously she had for she woke up next to her granddaughter who was curled up against her.

For a moment Clarisse didn´t know what had woken her, then she realized that her son was sitting on the bed next to her.

"Phillippe- what time is it?"

"Almost two in the morning- I need to talk to you."

"Is anything wrong?"

"Yes- or no- I can´t really tell, it´s all so confusing- Helen told me that she wants me to take Amelia back to Genovia with me, she says she can´t do this, raising her alone."

Clarisse sat up on the bed, careful not to wake the sleeping child.

"Are you sure she is serious about this?"

"Yes, absolutely, I tried to talk her out of it all day, I mean I love Amelia but I have no idea how to do this and then Helen is her mother, how can a child grow up without a mother."

He sounded so helpless and Clarisse thought how young her son actually still was, much too young to be a father and make a decision like the one that lay behind him.

"Phillippe."

Clarisse cupped the young man´s cheek in her hand and made her look into her eyes.

"Darling, if Helen doesn´t want to keep your daughter we´ll take her back home with us, don´t worry too much, we´ll help you as much as we can."

"Father didn´t even want to see her" Phillippe reminded her, sounding insecure.

"Don´t think about that now, it doesn´t matter, she can sleep in my rooms when you are away and your father will think different once he has met her- what did Helen say, how does she think this could work?"

"She has thought it all through, I thought she was panicking at first and that she would take it back but she wouldn´t, she wants to visit her but she doesn´t want to raise her, she thinks it´s better for her when she grows up the way she will live later."

Clarisse hesitated, then she softly said "Perhaps she´s not so wrong, Phillippe, imagine Amelia growing up without knowing anything about her heritage, Helen is a very free spirited person, I know that´s one thing that fascinated you about her but she would have great influence on Amelia and it would be so hard for her to adjust to a completely different life style later."

"You really will help me?"

"Of course I will- are you going to take Amelia back to Helen tonight?"

Phillippe shook his head.

"No, she wants to say goodbye to her tomorrow- God, how will Mia react, she will miss her so much."

The little princess chose that precise moment to wake up and for a moment she looked as though she was going to cry, then her hand found Clarisse´s robe and the little fingers closed tightly around the soft silk.

Amelia rolled over and buried her face against Clarisse´s waist and the queen wrapped her arms around the child, watched by her son who was smiling now.

"I see it might not be so very bad after all- how do you do that, I´ve lied this morning when I said she doesn´t cry usually, she always does, she´s so easily upset."

"She´s been perfectly well behaved all day, havn´t you, Darling" Clarisse picked Amelia up from the bed and settled her into her lap instead as she leaned back against the headboard.

"Is Helen officially going to renounce custody in your favor?"

"Yes, she wants to sign the papers before we leave, I never thought she could do that, it´s as though she wants to cut everything that has anything to do with me out of her life."

"She probably does" Clarisse mused as she rocked her granddaughter back to sleep.

"Do you want to take her to your room with you?"

"No, keep her here, she seems perfectly fine with you and knowing Father´s plans for me when we get back home you´ll be the one who spends most time with her, anyway."

"I will talk to your father, he´ll have to give you time for your daughter, Phillippe."

"I havn´t spend much time with her yet, Mamam, I have to really get to know her first and she me- we don´t get along as easily as you two do."

"It´s a female connection" Clarisse teased, trying to lift up the mood and to her relief her son smiled.

"I see- I think I´ll try to get some sleep now, I´m awfully tired- see you tomorrow at breakfast?"

"Yes, Darling, sleep well."

"You too- and thank you, I love you so much."

"I love you too, Phillippe and I´m proud of you, don´t forget that."


	4. Chapter 4

addlogcon: Thank you- well, Clarisse will obviously spoil her beyond repair ;)

Captain Weirdo: Yeah, it´s going to go in a totally different direction, I´m sorry about the obvious lack of Helen in here, I don´t mind her but I don´t love her either, I feel rather indifferent about the character, so I hope no one is a big Helen fan- but then she´s hardly ever important in PD fanfic, so I take it that she won´t be missed too desperately in here.

Aw, thank you very much, I was hoping it would come across right :D

Prettycrazy: Thank you, I´m glad about that, I´m trying here lol :D

Yeah, I´ve already written that, it´s rather funny actually... Uhhhhh- he´s not THAT happy, especially since Clarisse doesn´t think it necessary to warn him beforehand... So here´s the next part now!

bluegirl-783: Ohhh, good- well, I hope the Helen business doesn´t upset you, like I said earlier, Helen isn´t exactly the most interesting character to me so personally I won´t miss her, I might have her visit sometime, I think that would be interesting- thanks again for reviewing, hope you´ll like the next part also!

"Your Majesty?"

Clarisse turned around as the door to her bedroom opened and Josef appeared in the frame.

"Hello, Josef, do come in."

It was dawning outside and Amelia had woken up and refused to go back to sleep, so Clarisse had gotten up and settled herself in front of the large windows with the baby in her lap, deciding to use the hour before she had to get ready for the day to think but of course she preferred talking to Josef.

"Have I missed anything?"

Josef asked as he noticed the child in Clarisse´s lap, the little princess was still wearing her tiny blue nightshirt and was playing with the sash on the queen´s robe.

"It looks as though fate agrees with your idea of me becoming a mother again" Clarisse sighed, earning herself a puzzled look from her friend.

"Could you be a bit more specific? I can´t follow you."

"Helen informed Phillippe that she doesn´t think that raising Genovia´s crown princess on her own is a good idea and that in fact she´s not planning on doing it, she wants to give up on custody and only visit two or three times a year."

"Are you telling me Phillippe is going to take his daughter back home with him?"

"That´s exactly what I´m telling you- and since my baby feels a little overwhelmed by his fatherly duties I´m the one who takes care of his baby for now- and knowing Rupert and all he will spring on Phillippe now that he has agreed to become king, Amelia will more or less be my responsibility from now on."

"Oh- so, uhm, congratulations?"

Josef said, obviously undecided if this was the right time for a joke.

"Well, thank you- I havn´t checked my schedule for today, is there anywhere I have to be?"

"Actually you do, you have a lunch appointment with the English consul."

"I see- can you do me a favor, Josef?"

"I somehow have the feeling I won´t like what you are going to ask of me."

"Probably not- Helen wants to see Amelia before we leave tomorrow, so I suppose Phillippe will take her over to their apartment- could you go with him? It will be so hard for him and I don´t think Helen wants to see me right now."

"Of course, Ma´am, I´ll ask Alexander to accompany you instead."

"Thank you so much, what would I do without you?"

"I´m sure you´d find a way to survive- have you talked to His Majesty already?"

"Don´t remind me, I havn´t- I´m not sure it is a good idea either, maybe it´s best he´s simply surprised."

"Well, that´s your decision, I think a little warning might be in order, though."

"I really don´t know what to say to him, he´ll be furious, he didn´t want a third child twenty years ago, what do you think he´ll say when he hears about this?"

"What´s so bad about a child?"

"Oh, there are various things, I remember our discussions about that after Phillipe had turned three and I tried to persuade him to let me have another baby, children are noisy and demand too much attention and time- you are getting the picture."

"Perhaps he´ll understand that a girl is different" Josef offered but Clarisse shook her head.

"It won´t be that easy, trust me- no, I won´t call him, I´ll rely on Amelia´s charm."

She stroked the girl´s hair and the child looked up at her, a bright smile on her small face.

"What can go wrong then, she is a lot like her father and also a lot like you, two of the people he loves most."

"I hope he sees it that way- well, I should get dressed, it´s almost time for breakfast."

"Of course, Ma´am, I´ll leave then."

"Oh no, Josef, you can´t leave, I need you to stay with Amelia."

"You mean all by myself?"

Clarisse couldn´t help but laugh at the astonished expression on her friend´s face.

"Yes, Josef, I thought she was too small to scare you."

"Oh I don´t know, she has your genes."

"Now what is that supposed to mean?"

The queen asked indignantly but she had to smile when Josef started to chuckle.

"All right, be like that- so have fun, you two."

She transfered her granddaughter to Josef´s arms and felt relieved when the little girl didn´t seem to have objections against her new surroundings.


	5. Chapter 5

_addlogcon: I´m sorry but you will have to wait for the next part ;) Hope you´ll like this one, anyway._

_Captain Weirdo: Sort of :D Well, even Josef has to be mocked a bit from time to time- we can´t have him seem tooooo perfect after all... Yeah, Mia is going to grow up as a mini Clarisse - thanks for reviewing!_

_LochinbluSpirit: Thank you- well, I always try to find something no one has done before and it´s hard for there´s so much great stuff and only two movies to vary- so I´m very glad you enjoyed it! :D_

_bluegirl-783: Aw, thank you- yeah, he´ll come to love her eventually of course though he´ll be rather shocked in the beginning :D Oh, you know how it is- strong men and little girls, always a lovely mix!_

_Prettycrazy: Thanks you :D Oh, don´t be tooooo sure, he´ll put up a fight, promised ;) Naw, it won´t be bad, who can resist little princesses..._

"Good morning, everyone" Phillippe entered the room and kissed first Clarisse and then Amelia who was sitting in her high chair and playing with a string of pearls.

"Are you sure that´s a toy?"

He asked, sounding puzzled but the queen only shrugged as she poured milk into her tea.

"She likes them so much, let her- besides I have several more strings in case she breaks this one."

"Well, she most seriously won´t have any reason to complain around you- what else is going to be considered as a reasonable toy for Her Highness?"

"Oh, I´m not sure yet- I remember that you enjoyed playing with your father´s fountain pens when you were her age, I think that was one of the reasons you never got younger siblings."

"Really? I´m sorry about that, Mamam."

"I got over it- besides I do have a chance to spoil a small girl now, don´t I."

Clarisse smiled fondly at her granddaughter who was still focused on the shimmering pearls in her hands.

"What have I gotten myself into" the prince groaned as he sank onto a chair next to Josef and reached for the coffee pot.

"Don´t despair, Your Highness, look how well you´ve turned out."

"Shut up, Joe" Phillippe sighed and Josef laughed loudly, shaking his head.

"I´m sorry, I couldn´t resist."

--

_"How did it go?"_

_Clarisse asked as soon as she had excited the car._

_"It was all right, the young lady really seems to be convinced that she´s doing the right thing."_

_"Where is Phillippe?"_

_"Out in the garden with the princess, do you want to join them? I have tea arranged outside."_

_"Thank you, Josef, I´ll go outside right now, are you coming with me?"_

_"I´d be delighted."_

_Josef offered the queen his arm and led her through the consulate and out into the garden where they found the crown prince with Amelia near the small pond._

_The little girl stretched her arms up towards the queen, smiling brightly and Clarisse picked her up._

_"Hello, Darling, did you have a good day?"_

_"She seems to be pretty happy, well she´s not the one who is all wet" Phillippe sighed as he got up from the ground and looked down at the splashes on his shirt._

_"Children love to play with water" Clarisse told him calmly while smoothing the wrinkles out of the princess´s blue dress._

_"I think it´s time for a nap, don´t you?"_

_As if she had understood her grandmother´s words Amelia laid her head against Clarisse´s shoulder and closed her eyes._

_"I´ll take her inside, why don´t you two go ahead to the tea table, I´ll be back down in a few minutes."_

--

Clarisse found both her son and Josef at the tea table when she got back to the garden ten minutes later.

"She´s asleep" she announced, smiling at Josef who had gotten up to pull her chair back for her.

"Have you finished packing?"

She then asked Phillippe who nodded.

"Yes, I have all MIa´s things as well, I brought them back from Helen. Have you called Father yet?"

"No, I don´t think that´s wise, there won´t be a discussion about this anyway."

"You mean you are not going to call him at all?"

"Exactly- we´ll leave for the airport at eight tomorrow morning, I trust that everything is arranged, Josef?"

"Yes, Ma´am, everyone is packed and we have three limousines ready, the staff will go in one, then there´ll be one for you and one for HIs Highness and the princess."

Phillippe looked up.

"Is that really necessary? I mean how likely is it that anything happens on the short way?"

"It´s just a precaution, it´s simply unwise to have both you and Her Majesty in the same car, an accident isn´t the only thing that could happen, there could be an attack for example and then we´d have to deal with getting both of you out at once."

"Why have I asked, I don´t think I wanted to hear that" Phillippe sighed, shaking his head.

"Josef is right, it´s the usual procedure, Darling, besides it could be much worse, some royal families don´t even use the same plane."

Clarisse cut in, her hand coming to lie comfortingly on her son´s.

"All right, I get it- could you take MIa, though? I know I need to get used to being alone with her but right now it just makes me nervous and I- well-" Phillippe´s voice trailed away and Clarisse tightened her grip on his hand.

"You don´t know how you will feel on the way to the airport, I understand- that´s fine, Phillippe, you´ll arranger yourself with the situation in time."


	6. Chapter 6

_addlogcon: Oh he already HAS gotten cold feet- poor baby boy but he has Mommy to help him out after all ;)_

_Clarisse-von-Trapp: I know, it´s a little confusing in the beginning- I´m glad you like it, I´ll post the next part now, thanks for reviewing :D_

_Prettycrazy: Hehe, thanks- pretty COOOOOL review ;) Yeah, I was smiling madly when I wrote it- I´m so sorry, still no Rupert in this part but in the one after that! Hope you won´t fall off the couch, I update frequently anyway, there´s no need to hurt yourself- but thanks anyway, that was a really sweet thing to say!_

"Being a princess does has it´s advantages, you know, we have our own plane."

Clarisse told her granddaughter while carrying her towards the plane gleaming in the early morning sunlight.

The queen was wearing a light blue coat that was fluttering in the wind and had a matching silk scarf arranged loosely around her head, her eyes were covered by sunglasses and she was glad that her security team had managed to hold the press at a distance when Phillippe and she had excited their cars and entered the airport.

She knew that there would be pictures of her carrying Amelia on every paper the next day nevertheless but then the little princess would have to be introduced to the Genovian people as well as the rest of the world anyway, she just hoped that her husband wouldn´t learn about them bringing the child back to Genovia with them before she could tell him herself.

She felt Josef´s hand on her back as he guided her up the steps and into the plane and for a moment she felt sad that the time in San Francisco was over already, she had enjoyed having so much time to spend with her trusted friend without having to be so careful who saw them together.

"Phillippe, sit next to me, will you?"

"Of course, Mamam."

Clarisse put her granddaughter into the children´s seat she had ordered and carefully secured her seat belt before fastening her own.

They took off only minutes later and Clarisse soothingly talked to the small girl next to her for Amelia looked rather distressed by all the noise and sudden movement.

"It´ll be over soon, Sweetie."

The baby looked back at her, her brown eyes wide as her fingers closed around Clarisse´s scarf.

The queen smiled lovingly as she took the scarf off and gave it to Amelia who looked a lot happier at once as she began to play with the soft silk.

"Mustn´t it be nice to be so enthusiastic about such small things?"

Clarisse asked, looking up at her son.

"Yes- you never gave me your scarfs."

"With good reason, Darling, you would have ripped them within seconds. Are we high enough to undo the seat belts, I hate them."

Josef looked amused at the queen´s impatience but nodded at her.

"You can undo it, Your Majesty- I´ll go and see if breakfast is ready to be served, excuse me, please."

--

_Clarisse woke up to a soft whimpering sound and turned to the seat next to her where her granddaughter was squirming while looking at her with tear- filled eyes._

_"Oh, I´m sorry, Darling" Clarisse cooed while unbuckling the child´s seat belt before lifting the little girl up onto her lap._

_"Are you hungry? Come on, we´ll see if we can find something to eat for you."_

_She got up and walked towards the back of the plane, balancing the baby on her hip._

_"Mary, do you have the baby food somewhere?"_

_"Of course, Your Majesty."_

_The maid opened the fridge and got out a dish of the baby food that had been prepared for the little princess and Clarisse leaned against the counter while waiting until Mary had warmed the food._

_"Thank you, Mary" she smiled, taking the plate from the maid._

_"Come, Darling, we´ll go and have dinner- well, technically it´s too early for that, I know but we´ll have to get used to Genovian time again."_

_"Do you want your dinner as well, Your Majesty?"_

_"Yes, thank you and please prepare something for His Highness and for Josef too."_

_Clarisse walked back to her seat where she found both Phillippe and Josef awake and discussing football results._

_"Listen to them, that´s what I have to endure all the time, I´m so glad to finally have someone to discuss shoes and make-up with" Clarisse told Amelia as she sat down again, making both Phillippe and Josef look at her._

_"You really can´t start early enough, can you?"_

_Phillippe joked and Clarisse smiled brightly back at him._

_"But of course not, Dear- I have ordered dinner for us, Mary will bring it over."_

_"Great, I´m starving- sorry, Mamam, I mean I´m very grateful that you have thought about my dinner."_

_Clarisse laughed, shaking her head._

_"You don´t have to pretend with me, just try and not let your father hear your college slang."_

_"I´ll try- so what are you eating, Baby doll?"_

_He leaned over to his daughter and kissed her cheek, making Amelia giggle._

_"Squashed potatoes and spinach- is she always that easy when it comes to food?"_

_"Yes, she takes after me, as long as it´s food it´s great."_

_Phillippe laughed as he leaned back in his seat again._


	7. Chapter 7

Prettycrazy: Thank you- aw, you always choose things I like about the chapters as well, that´s great :D Yeah, so here´s the next part, including the kings reaction- enjoy!

addlogcon: Sorry about that, here is more now :)

bluegirl-783: Thank you- oh I LOVE to write this, it´s so easy to imagine her being like this, I mean let´s face it, as cute as little boys are, every mother wants a baby girl to spoil, don´t they ;) Yes, she´ll end up being a very spoiled little brat- naw, she won´t of course- hehe, yeah, couldn´t resist having Joe tease Phillippe a little, sounded like something Joe would say... Here it comes now!

Captain Weirdo: Awww, thank you- well, I´m trying to keep it as real as possible, glad it agrees with you :D

"Here we go" Josef whispered into the queen´s ear before gently nudging her towards the open doors.

"What am I going to say, he´ll be furious."

"I told you you should call him beforehand and you didn´t want to, now you´ll have to face the consequences."

"Can´t you be a bit more supportive?"

Clarisse complained but Josef shook his head.

"I´ve warned you and you wouldn´t listen, it´s your own fault."

"Josef, please" Clarisse bat her eyelashes while looking at him and he looked back at her with a rather painful expression.

"Oh all right, wait here for a moment."

"Thank you" the queen whispered back before she quickly kissed his cheek, smiling as he froze at the contact.

"Anything wrong, Josef?"

Clarisse asked innocently and Josef shook his head.

"Not at all, if that´s what I get anytime I safe you from uncomfortable situations, it´s more than worth it."

Now it was Clarisse´s time to be speechless and Josef winked at her before leaving the plane.

Clarisse kept in the shadow next to the door while she watched Josef approach the king who was waiting outside and started talking to him, she saw Rupert´s eyes widen and dart up towards the door of the plane before he turned around towards the car where Phillipe had vanished moments before, obviously suddenly comprehending why his son had hurried past him in such a unusual fashion.

Her husband shook his head as though exasperated, then he looked back up at the door pointedly and Clarisse drew a deep breath.

"Time to meet your grandfather, Darling, please do me a favor and behave perfectly for just a few minutes, all right?"

She stepped out of the shadow and started to descend the stairs, meeting her husband at the bottom.

"Hello, Darling" she smiled brightly at the king but Rupert didn´t go for her attempt to distract him, he was looking at the child on her arm who was curiously looking back at him.

"Clarisse, what a nice surprise- it might have been a good idea to warn me."

"That´s what Josef told me but you know me, I never listen."

Rupert bit his lip and Clarisse knew that he had to keep himself from smiling now.

"Yes, I happen to have noticed that- come on, let´s go home, you both should get out of the sun."

He led the queen over to the second car and helped her inside himself, then got into the back seat next to her.

Amelia leaned against Clarisse and closed her eyes, snuggling into her grandmother´s coat.

"She looks a lot like Phillippe" Rupert stated, watching as his granddaughter fell asleep.

"So Helen willingly gave up on custody?"

"It was her idea, no one tried to influence her- I think Phillippe did his best to persuade her to change her mind again."

"So I suppose you have already thought about it all, havn´t you?"

"She´s just a child, Rupert, not a little monster- I think Phillippe will prefer if she gets a room in my suite but I´ll have to talk to him about that later."

"We´ll need a nanny anyway, you won´t have enough time, Clarisse."

"We´ll see about that" the queen reluctantly replied as she turned away from her husband to look out of the window, watching the palace draw nearer.

"This is your second chance, isn´t it."

The queen turned back to the king, surprised at his words.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean- you always wanted a third child and you desperately wanted a girl and I´m aware that Phillippe isn´t grown up enough to raise his daughter."

"Don´t be too hard on him, Rupert, he´s a good person and he loves her, it has all been a little too much for him."

There was silence for the rest of the way, the couple didn´t have anything left to say to each other but Clarisse wasn´t surprised at that, it would change again, usually her husband and she got along exceptionally well and once he would overcome his shock that his son had made him a grandfather at such an early age he would warm up to the idea of having his granddaughter around- or at least that was what Clarisse hoped.

--

"Phillippe?"

Clarisse closed the door to her son´s room behind herself and sat down on the bed next to the young man who was looking at a framed picture of his ex- wife.

"You miss her, don´t you?"

"Yes- I´m not sure if we had worked out if it hadn´t been for Pierre´s abdication- actually I think probably not- but now we didn´t even have a chance to find out- and then there´s Mia and I don´t know if I can manage it all at once."

Clarisse brushed a stray strand of hair out of her son´s face.

"Don´t worry so much, you´ll do fine- I have send for a baby bed and what else we´ll need, I thought that was easier than looking for your old things in the attic- I think it´s best to settle Amelia into the nursery, there´s a direct access from my rooms and your suite is just down the corridor, what do you think?"

"That sounds great, thank you."

Clarisse was surprised when her son leaned against her but she closed her arms around his shoulders and soothingly stroked his back.

"Oh Darling, I´m so sorry your life is so complicated already."

Phillippe looked up again.

"I know I shouldn´t complain, I have a good life, I have you and Father and Pierre and then I´ll never have to worry about money or anything, not like other people- and then Mia of course but sometimes it´s all so much."

"I have faith in you, you will get through it all and one day you will be a great king for our people- and now let´s go and have a cup of tea and something to eat and then we´ll go for a walk in the garden with Amelia, all right?"

"Yes- I never thought I´d say that but I´ve missed scones with pear jam."

Clarisse shuddered.

"Well, you are more than welcome to eat mine as well then."


	8. Chapter 8

addlogcon: Thank you- lol, yeah, I have a nice dialogue coming up where he also realizes that she´s a lot like Clarisse with a little joke- well, you´ll see- of course, Clarisse will see to that, he won´t have much choice ;)

Prettycrazy: Good you are having fun ;) Ew, I despise pears, disgusting... So yeah, pear bashing is great fun... Thank you so much- I though it was funny to have her getting cold feet when it comes to facing her husband- I wanted to show that Rupert actually does know her well and does understand her but doesn´t really find the time or makes the effort to act on it- so here´s more now! :D

Captain Weirdo: Thank you :D

bluegirl-783: Oh, it´s just I have to study a lot and I´m glad for any kind of distraction but thank you ;) Naw, your chapters are like a million lines longer than mine- naw, Josef can´t let her get away with everything, there´ll be a lot more conflict between them in here, it´s getting too fluffy otherwise- there´ll be a lot observing from Mia later of course- I wasn´t sure about Rupert but I decided to make him be apprehensive but give in rather quickly, he´s going through a very different phase in here with Pierre having abdicated and Phillippe not being anywhere near ready for the throne and then Clarisse and he are already distant and her is realizing it too late and doesn´t know what to do- well, you´ll see what I mean, I´ll stop rambling now- thanks for reading and reviewing. :D

When Clarisse entered the dining room with Mia on her arm she found her husband and son already assembled around the table.

A high chair had been set up between her´s and Phillippe´s chair and Clarisse put the little girl into it, earning herself a disapproving glare from her granddaughter.

"You are spoiling her already, aren´t you" the king commentated, sounding amused and his grin widened when his wife shot him a glance that greatly resembled Amelia´s.

"Phillippe, you have no idea what you´ve gotten yourself into, I have a feeling that your daughter is a lot more like your mother than any of us has realized yet."

"I most certainly hope she is" Phillippe replied, his tone a lot less playful than his father´s.

Clarisse watched the exchange, feeling worried, the tension between father and son was highly uncomfortable and she could only hope that things would improve again.

"When will Pierre be here tonight?"

She asked her husband, changing the topic to break up the argument before it had really started.

"At around six, dinner will be served at half past."

"Good- is there anything for me to do until then?"

"No, your schedule is clear until tomorrow, I thought you might want to rest before dinner, after all you´ve spend last night on the plane."

Clarisse felt surprised but pleased.

"Thank you, that´s very thoughtful of you."

To Clarisse´s relief both her husband and son remained friendly with each other for the rest of their meal, then the king excused himself, saying her had important phone calls to make and Clarisse turned to Phillippe.

"I´ll go out into the garden for a while, do you want to accompany me?"

"I´m really sorry, Mamam but Father gave me a large stack of papers and asked me to go through them before our meeting tomorrow and you´ve just seen him, I don´t want to provoke him if I can avoid it."

"I understand, Darling, shall I take Amelia outside with me?"

"If you want to- I think some fresh air would be good for her and I wouldn´t be much of an entertainment for her while I work."

--

"I know you are there and I assure you, it´s much nicer out here than behind this hedge."

Clarisse waited for her bodyguard to step out of the shadows and join her on the path, then continued walking towards her rose garden.

"Good afternoon, Ma´am- I didn´t want to disturb you."

"You aren´t disturbing me- besides I know that you are near me wherever I go, so it´s no use to try and hide."

"But you could ignore me if you wished to do so."

Josef reminded her.

"Probably- I don´t wish that though, so stop doing it, it gives me the feeling you want to be ignored."

"Nobody likes to be ignored- at least not by you."

"Oh I wouldn´t be so sure- my maids prefer to be ignored, especially in the mornings when I´m in a bad mood because I had to get up too early."

"What, you compensate your temper while being horrible to your maids?"

Josef asked in mock indignation and Clarisse sighed theatrically.

"I know, Im a horrible queen- but it´s traditional, remember Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, all the queen´s in fairy tales are horrible."

"But all the princesses are nice, well behaved and outspokenly gentle, perhaps you should try and use them as role models."

Clarisse looked as though she was seriously considering that idea for a moment, then she shook her head.

"That would take all the fun out of life."

"I see- so what has Your Horribleness in mind for today?"

"Don´t be cheeky or I might reconsider my declaration that you aren´t disturbing me" the queen pouted and Josef laughed as he followed her into her rose garden.

"I´m truly sorry- so what does Her Royal Highness, the wise and gentle Queen Clarisse have in mind for the the rest of this beautiful afternoon?"

Now it was Clarisse´s turn to laugh, making the small girl in her arm look from her to Josef and back again with a puzzled expression.

"Now you think we are both rather strange, don´t you."

Clarisse kissed her granddaughter´s cheek, then she put the child down onto the grass and sat down next to her before looking up at Josef.

"Are you going to remain standing there or are you joining us? It´s dry and warm and besides no grass stains would be visible on black."

"Now who is cheeky?"

Josef teased her as he sat down on the grass next to her.

"I admit it- but I´m the queen, so I´m above criticism."

"Listen and remember, you might want to quote that one day" Josef advised the small princess but Mia seemed to be more fascinated with a large yellow butterfly that was fluttering around a rose bush near by.

--

Clarisse put a finger to her lips and looked imploringly at her granddaughter before quietly opening the door to her husband´s office.

The king was sitting at his desk, so immersed in his paper work that he didn´t seem to have noticed his wife entering the room.

Clarisse closed the door again and tiptoed over to the desk, then she carefully lowered Mia down onto the floor and just like she had hoped the little girl reached for the king´s trousers and tugged.

Clarisse started to chuckle when her husband looked down at the baby, the confusion on his face was simply adorable.

Rupert sighed, then looked up at his wife, a slight smile on his handsome face.

"You won´t give up that easily, will you?"

"No- do I ever?"

"Not that I´m aware of."

The king bent down and picked the little girl up, settling her into his lap before turning back to Clarisse.

"All right, I´ll play house with you- happy?"

"Not entirely yet but we´ll work on that, won´t we."

"Will I have a choice?"

"Do you want one?"

Mia squealed happily when her grandfather ruffled her hair, her large brown eyes sparkling.

"You have to admit she is adorable" the queen said fondly, watching her granddaughter laugh.

"Like I said, she´s a lot like you- I remember you sitting on my lap when you were her age" Rupert teased her as Mia pulled at his jacket.

"Havn´t I forbidden to talk about that? I still can´t believe your parents thought it was a good idea to introduce their ten year old to his six months old betrothed."

"I didn´t think it was so bad, I fell completely in love with you, you looked exactly like my sister´s favorite doll, large blue eyes, blond hair and that cute frown- not to mention that cute little nose and the tiny freckles, I was fascinated, I asked if I could take you home with me straight away ."

"Lovely, Rupert- are you going to join your sons and me for dinner as planned?"

"I´m afraid not, Dear, I havn´t found time to prepare for parliament tomorrow."

"I see- well, I´ll have something brought up to you then and we´ll see you in the library for tea afterwards."

"Thank you, Clarisse- it´s good to have you back home."

"It´s good to be back home."

Clarisse gently kissed her husband´s cheek, then she scooped her granddaughter up into her arms.

"Come on, Sweetheart, it´s time to meet your uncle and then we´ll get you into bed."


	9. Chapter 9

addlogcon: Thank you- well, I didn´t want to say that Rupert´s parents told him about it, rather that their parents socialized with each other and that there was an understanding that their children would marry once they are old enough- I just liked the picture of Rupert remembering Clarisse as little girl. Hm- I suppose I have a lot of school work to do and look for things to do instead... ;) Thank you for reviewing :D

Prettycrazy: Thank you- I think most guys would be rather terrified at the idea to raise a child without the mother and I didn´t want to make him out as super- Dad but rather portrait him like I imagine a young man who has to learn being a father and a king at the same time would act. There´ll be another Rupert/Clarisse part now and more Clarisse/Josef in the next update. Well, I´ll come back to that when Mia is older :D

bluegirl-783: Thank you- hehe, awwwww- yeah, she´ll be very much like Clarisse, after all she has all the good influence now :D Ohhhh, fairy tales, I was listening to my Julie-Andrews-selects-her-favorite-Disney-songs CD when I wrote it ;) They are both such teases in here but it won´t all be easy bantering, it´ll get more serious in the next chapter- thanks, that´s really, really sweet!

"I should reconsider not having a family" Pierre smiled as he bounced Amelia on his knees, making the little girl giggle happily.

Phillippe was sitting next to his brother, a stack of papers on the table in front of him and a resigned expression on his face.

"You´ll do that and while you are at it kindly reconsider your decision about becoming king, too."

"No, thanks, I´ll think you´ll do a far better job than me- besides you wouldn´t want to miss out on all the great fun, would you."

"Your jokes aren´t getting funnier, Pierre- besides I bet that you´re not much better off than me, you always complain about your amount of work."

"Stop bickering, you two, it´s rarely enough that we are together- I´ll take Amelia upstairs now and you two can freshen up for dinner."

"Isn´t Father going to join us?"

Clarisse looked sternly back at her oldest as she took Mia from him.

"Don´t sound so hopeful, you might have abdicated but you are still my son and I expect you to show manors."

"I´m sorry, Mum- so is he?"

"No, he is still working, it will only be the three of us."

Pierre´s face lightened up at the prospect of having dinner with his mother and brother without the king being present and Clarisse could sort of see her son´s point, Rupert never failed to let Pierre know that he still hadn´t forgiven him for abdicating and of course the young man was glad to avoid the tension.

--

"You should come back inside, it´s getting chilly."

The queen smiled, not turning around and he stepped up next to her, just like she had expected.

"I will in a moment- how was your evening?"

"It was fine, I had a few rounds of poker with the guys after dinner, then I checked that all is quiet for the night and now I was on my way to bed."

"I don´t want to hold you up."

"You never do- how was dinner?"

"Dinner was fine, Rupert had too much to do to join us, so it was just the boys and me- I should stop referring to them as boys, by the way- and afterwards we met Rupert for tea and he and Pierre got into their endless discussion about Pierre´s abdication all over again, Phillippe excused himself about an hour ago and said he still had to work and I said I´d have to go and see if Amelia was still sleeping."

"Is she?"

"Yes, she seems perfectly happy in the nursery, you have to come and have a look tomorrow, the furniture are so sweet."

Clarisse realized how stupid she must sound and shook her head.

"I´m sorry, I´m being over- excited in a most childish way."

"I don´t think so, I´m glad you are happy with the whole situation actually- so what you are saying is that His Majesty and Pierre are still arguing right now?"

"Probably, unless Pierre has stormed out on Rupert at some point. Let´s go to bed, shall we? It´s going to be a long day tomorrow."

"Actually I wanted to make a quick stop at the security room."

"Oh no, you won´t, you work too much and I´ll still need you in many years to come- it´s a royal order that you go to bed straight away now."

"Yes, Ma´am" Josef chuckled, offering the queen his arm.

"Right after I have seen you to your room."

--

"What are you doing in here?"

Clarisse closed the door to the nursery and stepped over to the rocking chair where her husband was sitting as he watched Mia sleep in the tiny four poster bed.

The room was almost dark, only illuminated by the moonlight shining through a gap in the curtains.

To the queen´s surprise her husband extended his hand and when she took it pulled her down onto his lap, his arms closing around her waist.

"I´m so tired of all this, Clarisse, sometimes I wish I could just hide somewhere and wait until everything has sorted itself out."

"I know what you mean- but Pierre doesn´t want to fight with you either, why can´t you just try and let it go?"

"I´m trying, I really do, I was so determined to avoid anything that could lead to an argument but then he starts talking about his schooling and I see Phillippe and how he´s not anywhere near ready for all this pressure and yet I have to put it onto him and then I get so angry at Pierre for simply leaving him to deal with it."

"Rupert, you can´t blame Pierre for this, he didn´t do it to hurt you or Phillippe- and Phillippe choose to do this, he will manage, he simply needs some time to adjust, we all did."

She looked over to the sleeping girl in the bed and her husband´s gaze followed her´s, a smile forming on his face.

"She´s really very sweet, I can´t deny that."

"Isn´t she- I just hope that she won´t miss her mother too much when she is old enough to understand the family structures."

"I´m sure you´ll be more than a great substitute, Darling."

Clarisse felt her husband´s arms tighten around her and then his lips covered her´s in a deep kiss.

The queen responded a little hesitantly, such open displays of affection between them were rare these days but when she felt Rupert pull her closer against him she relaxed into the sensations.

Her husband´s lips left her mouth and brushed against her neck and Clarisse bit her lip to stifle a sigh, mindful not to wake the sleeping child.

"Your place or mine?"

Rupert whispered into her ear and Clarisse chuckled softly.

"Mine, it´s closer."

She moved to get up but the king wouldn´t let go of her, instead he reached underneath her legs and got up with Clarisse still in his arms.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he carried her over to the door leading to her suite and on towards her bedroom, still smiling at this hopeless romantic gesture, she couldn´t deny that she had made a good choice when she had agreed to marry Rupert, he might not be the love of her life but they definitively had a strong, solid affection between them and after all these years he still managed to surprise her.


	10. Chapter 10

_risingdancer: Thank you- well, Clarisse is in a very complicated position here, I´m trying to create the image that on the one hand she loves Rupert as her good friend and companion and feels great compassion and tenderness towards him, on the other hand there is Josef towards whom she feels a strong attraction but her relationship with him is still not deep enough to let it interfere with her relationship with Rupert, she feels more sorry for Josef than for herself, she has a crush on him or if she would think about it properly she´d find it´s even more and she instinctively acts on it from time to time and then she feels guilty about keeping his hopes up- well, you´ll see in the next part. And no, Josef didn´t see them or anything but she´ll tell him, not on purpose but it´ll distress her that she has such a bad conscience- here is more now :D_

_addlogcon: Thank you very much- more R/C soon! :)_

_tabby-fan: Aw, thank you- sure, I´ll do that- hehe, little girls, aren´t they sweet- well, she does speak of him very fondly and I can´t believe that their marriage always has been bad, I think they were fairly happy under, though I think there is too much tension between the queen and Josef to think they only recently discovered their attraction- I make everyone I meet who hasn´t seen the movie watch it ;) and actually everyone who watches the first one asks something like ´how long has this been going on, do you get to know in the second movieand that´s how it looks for me as well, so even though I like writing Rupert and Clarisse´s marriage functional I think conflicts between Josef and Clarisse still work well in that constellation- I´m very glad you enjoy it so much and yes, I LOVE Pierre, how can you NOT fall in love with him on that portrait in the throne room ;) Tabby- fanny like Tabby cat or something else? Hehe, just curiosity!_

_Captain Weirdo: Thank you- ohhhhh, really?? That´s great, I´d so LOVE to read that, hope you´ll post it sometime soon! :D Well, she has the same reaction I always have when my Mum or Dad or whoever starts telling stories about me as a baby... You know, it´s annoying... So more to come now!_

Clarisse tried to disentangle herself from her husband´s arms, causing him to groan in protest.

"Don´t-" he was still half asleep and Clarisse smiled, amused.

"Darling, I have to get up, we have a baby to take care of."

She gently but firmly pulled Rupert´s arms away from her waist and sat up, reaching for her nightshirt and pulling it on, then she opened the door to the nursery and closed it again behind her.

Amelia was was crying softly and Clarisse picked the little girl up and gently rocked her.

"I´m here, Darling, don´t cry."

She carried Mia over to the changing table and started to change the baby´s diaper while talking soothingly to her granddaughter who quickly calmed down again now that she was being comforted after having woken up in these unfamiliar surroundings.

Clarisse rocked the small princess back to sleep, softly singing her a lullaby and then she put Mia back into her bed and carefully tugged her in.

"Sweet dreams, Darling" she whispered, then she tiptoed back over to the door and slipped back into her bedroom.

Rupert had fallen asleep again and for a moment the queen watched her husband´s face, he never looked so relaxed when he was awake.

Deciding that she wouldn´t be able to sleep again straight away she stepped into her walk- in- closet and reached for a robe, pulling it on and knotting the sash.

She made her way out of her suite and down the corridor, then she walked down the steps into the entrance hall.

"Your Majesty?"

She looked up at the sound of Josef´s voice.

"Josef- why aren´t you asleep?"

"I could ask you the same question."

He, too, was wearing a robe over his pajamas and now fell into step next to her.

"I assume you are on your way to the kitchen?"

The queen nodded.

"But of course I am- I suppose you as well?"

"I thought some warm milk would help me sleep- how is the princess, has she woken you up?"

"Just once, she´s a really uncomplicated child, nothing like my boys, Rupert didn´t even wake up."

She immediately wished she could take back her words and she looked up at Josef whose face had darkened.

"Josef, I´m sorry, I- I shouldn´t have said that."

"Why not?"

His voice sounded cheerful, a little too much so and Clarisse knew she had hurt him, of course she had, it was perfectly obvious that he was in love with her, however much he tried to hide it and she as good as told him that she had spend the night with her husband.

It sounded ridiculous that she felt the need to apologize to him for it but if she was honest with herself she had to admit that she owed him that, she relied on him in a way she had no right to, not when she intended to simply remain a friend.

She kept smiling at him in that special way, kissing his cheek and allowing him to comfort her when she was upset, she let him in on her secret worries and wishes, it was not fair but she depended on him.

"I shouldn´t have said it because I know that it hurt you and you don´t deserve to be hurt- especially not by me."

He didn´t answer, instead he held the kitchen door open for her and and the queen stepped through it and into the dimply lit room.

"Just milk or are you hungry too?"

She asked, walking over to the fridge.

"You don´t have to-" "Oh don´t be silly, Josef, it won´t exactly overtax me to warm up some milk."

Clarisse put a pot with milk onto the stove and took a tin with freshly baked cookies from the kitchen counter.

"About what I said-" "Madam, please- it´s none of my business."

"You just called me Madam and you try to tell me that everything is all right?"

"I don´t know what you are talking about" he replied, avoiding his gaze.

"Damn it, Josef, you are so stubborn sometimes."

Clarisse turned away from him, she couldn´t look at him and see the hurt in his eyes.

"What do you expect me to say? Would it make a difference if I told you to stop talking about your marriage? Would you tell him to keep out of your bedroom? Would you leave him?"

Clarisse turned around abruptly.

"You know I couldn´t- this is just-" "Ridiculous? I know it is- so tell me, why should I make an effort to talk to you about this? It´s so much easier and more comfortable to simply smile and pretend, enjoy the small pieces of affection you throw my way, the smiles, if it´s a good day a hand on my arm or my shoulder, if it´s a great day a kiss on the cheek- it´s all I can ever expect from you and somehow it has to be enough, so please don´t make it even more difficult and let us just talk about something different."

His words shocked her, she had a way to make things between Josef and her even worse.

"Please, Clarisse?"

The sound of her name from his lips, spoken in such a pleading tone made her heart even heavier but she nodded.

"Of course, Josef."

--

_To her relief Clarisse found her husband still asleep when she got back to her rooms._

_It was near dawn already and even though the queen was tired she knew there was no way she would manage to go back to sleep, the conversation she had had with Josef was still replaying in her head, so she got dressed instead of going back to bed._

_She walked over into the nursery and sat down in the rocking chair next to Mia´s bed, watching as the sky outside changed from inky blue to grey and then to a pinkish glow until finally the sun started to rise and the little princess woke up in her bed._

_"Good morning, Darling" Clarisse cooed, picking the baby up._

_"Time for breakfast, don´t you think?"_

_Mia still looked drowsy as Clarisse carried her down the corridors towards the kitchen, praying that she wouldn´t meet Josef there, she couldn´t look him in the eyes right now._

_The kitchen was empty except for the cook who was preparing breakfast for the staff and the royal family and greeted her respectfully, smiling warmly as he watched her fuss over her granddaughter._

_"What would you like for breakfast, Your Majesty?"_

_"Just some toast and tea, tank you, Paul."_

_"Not at all, Your Majesty."_

_The kitchen door opened again and Clarisse stifled a sigh when Josef entered the room._

_"Good morning, Your Majesty- hello, Paul."_

_"Hey, Joe."_

_The cook smield at the Head of security, then walked over into the storage room and Josef turned to the queen._

_"You havn´t gone back to bed?"_

_She shook her head._

_"I couldn´t have slept anyway, so I waited for Amelia to wake up- I take it that you havn´t been to bed, either."_

_He shook his head as he poured himself a cup of coffee from the coffee machine Paul obviously had turned on earlier._

_"I have been outside for a run, it´s a very nice, clear morning."_

_"I´m sure it is- I think I´ll go for a walk with Mia after breakfast and then I´ll take her up to Phillippe, he can take her to Rupert´s office with him, maybe they won´t fight so much if she´s there."_

_"Maybe- you are right though, he has to get used to take care of her eventually."_

_"Yes, he does indeed, he is positively terrified of being alone with her."_

_Amelia tugged at Clarisse´s string of pearls, obviously she felt as though she wasn´t getting enough attention and when Clarisse looked down at her the little princess smiled brightly._

_"I am sure you will be very happy to be a princess, Darling, everyone will fuss about you wherever you go."_

_"At least when you are a little older, right now they prefer to fuss about your grandmother" Josef added as he offered the little girl another spoon of baby food._

_Clarisse watched in silence as her Head of Security fed her granddaughter, unable to stop herself from thinking what a wonderful father Josef would have made, hadn´t he decided to rather find a wife and raise a family instead of remaining in close proximity to the queen, even though there was no hope that he would ever be more for her than a friend._

_Or what if she had met Josef before her marriage to Rupert, she would have married him, perhaps they´d already have grandchildren together then and he would be happy, without the melancholic expression in his eyes- she herself would be making breakfast for them right now instead of waiting for her personal chef to do it for her._

_"What are you thinking about?"_

_His voice made her look up and she sighed when she saw the concern in his eyes._

_"Why do you care so much about me, Josef? I´m horrible to you- you said it yourself, I keep giving you hope and then I shatter it again and all because-" Clarisse bit her lip, she mustn´t say another word and to her enormous relief her son choose that precise moment to enter the room and interrupted the conversation._

_"Good morning, Mum- hello, Joe."_

_"Good morning Pierre- have you slept well?"_

_"More or less, it wasn´t a very long night, I got so upset with Father that I spend most of the night watching old horror movies on TV."_

_"Charming, Darling- what a lovely way to calm down again."_

_"It worked though- are you going to take a walk after breakfast?"_

_"Indeed I am- do you want to accompany me?"_

_"That would be nice- besides I want to talk to you about Father."_

_"Of course, Pierre- Josef, are you going to come with us?"_

_"I don´t think so, Your Majesty, I don´t want to intrude."_

_"Come on, Joe, you aren´t intruding, you usually were the only one I talked to at all- please?"_

_Pierre looked pleadingly at his mother´s bodyguard who smiled affectionately back at the young man._

_"All right, I´ll come."_

_Thanks, Joe- I´ll go and say hello to Phillippe before Father locks him into the office, I´ll meet you in the entrance hall."_

_Clarisse looked after her son as he hurried out of the room, shaking his head._

_"Where does he get all his energy from?"_

_Josef shrugged._

_"I have no idea- but he´s always been like that, he never wanted to quit, no matter if it was a game when he was young or sport or a discussion when he was older, he always had to push anyone else to the limit and then he still wanted to continue."_

_"Yes- he would have made a fine king."_

_Clarisse sighed while cleaning Mia´s face with a napkin._

_"Probably, though I´m not sure if he could have concentrated all his energy on just the one job effectively, he always needs several things to do at once."_


	11. Chapter 11

_addlogcon: Thank you very much, more conflict in the next part ;)_

_Prettycrazy: I can´t help it, I LOVE Pierre- there´ll be more interaction between Pierre and all the other family members in here of course- no, Josef and Clarisse are THE couple in here- well, unless you count the little insignificant fact that they aren´t a couple after all... ;) I thought really was time for some Clarisse/Rupert loving, after all they WERE happy with each other and even though I suppose that Clarisse might have had feelings for Josef for a long time it doesn´t mean she isn´t happy with her husband, there are a lot of people who claim to love two people at once, so being in love with Josef and at the same time having a working relationship with Rupert isn´t that absurd- hehe, thanks, Pierre is going to make things a little uncomfortable for his mother in the next part._

_Sorry about that, I just thought it wasn´t realistic after she just had that conflict with Joe- yeah, poor Joe... I thought it was rather hilarious though, glad you like it too- ohhh, warm milk is great, the never ending excuse in fanfic universe to get people together alone in the middle of the night- works almost always- well, ten years ago when I was writing X- Files fanfiction it usually was coffee but well, you´re getting my point..._

_Clarisse Renaldi: Thank you so much- well, she tells Mia that she thinks her marriage turned out quite splendidly so I simply think it´s not very realistic to portrait Rupert as a cheating bastard all the time- not that I don´t do that sometimes as well, it does work, it just can´t be what the producers had in mind when they had Clarisse tell Mia about her marriage in the movie- glad you liked it, more to come now :D_

_bluegirl-783: Thank you :D- well, I thought Rupert liking Mia would be much more fun than him being grumpy- well, yes, that´s how I see it, there´s a lot of tension but she still is married and she likes her husband very much, so there´s a lot potential for awkwardness._

_KP009: Aw, thank you- that´s really sweet and I hope you´ll keep reading it, I´ll post the next part now- lol, that´s ok, take your time, though I can´t deny I DO love reviews of course ;)_

They finished their breakfast and then made their way up to the entrance hall and just as Clarisse had feared Josef hadn´t forgotten about the conversation Pierre had interrupted.

"So tell me- what did you mean?"

"Josef, I shouldn´t have-" "You can´t always get away with declaring that you shouldn´t have said something, Clarisse- that doesn´t make it unsaid."

"I know that- it would be better for both of us to just leave it alone, though."

He looked back at her, his eyes narrowing.

"You mean it would be better for you- easy, comfortable- for me it wouldn´t be better, quite the contrary, it would leave me in yet another mess of emotions and speculations- and don´t look at me like that, I have every right to talk to you like this, you are using me as your personal emotional waste basket."

She couldn´t think of anything to reply, he was right of course, that was exactly what she was doing and he indeed did have every right to speak to her in whatever way he saw fit.

"Just tell me, Clarisse, I won´t let you get away that easily anyway."

She shook hear head and quickened her footsteps while pressing Mia to her chest, the warm weight in her arms comforting her as she fought back tears.

Josef seemed to decide that he wouldn´t get an answer out of her right now and didn´t say anything else until they reached the entrance hall where Pierre was already waiting for them but Clarisse knew that this didn´t mean that he would forget about the subject.

"There you are- Mum, we have to do something about Phillippe, he´s really uncharacteristically depressed- can I carry Mia a bit?"

Clarisse handed the baby over to her son, feeling concerned.

"Did he say anything?"

"No but I know my little brother and he´s not himself- well, I´ll try and kidnap him tomorrow for a few hours- if you can distract Father long enough."

Clarisse smiled at her son´s words.

"I´ll see what I can do for you- so what happened between you and your father yesterday?"

"He just can´t let it go, it´s so annoying- I know he´s upset with me but it´s done, why can´t he just try and accept it?"

"I talked to him yesterday after you had left."

Clarisse could feel Josef´s eyes on her and forced herself to continue talking.

"I think it´s more that he feels you let Phillippe down- wait, let me finish, that´s what he thinks, I don´t agree, it was Phillippe´s own decision after all and once he´s got used to the situation he will adjust- I suppose subconsciously Rupert is more disappointed that he spend so much time preparing you for this and now he has to do it all over again with Phillippe."

"What can I do, I apologized several times already and nothing seems to make a difference- what do you mean you talked to him, did he come to you?"

"No, he went to the nursery after he had left the office- he often did that when you were small and he felt troubled about something."

"Really? I didn´t know that- I don´t want to fight with him anymore, Mum, I miss him- do you think he would talk to me if I asked him to?"

"He would, Pierre, I´m sure of that- just go to him, he is your father and he loves you."

"All right."

Pierre kissed Mia´s cheek before handing the little girl back to Clarisse, then he turned to Josef.

"How come you are so quiet, anything wrong?"

Josef smiled politely at the young man.

"Nothing, I´m simply a bit tired, it was a short night."

"Oh- why were you up so early then?"

Pierre followed Josef´s gaze over to Clarisse, looking confused.

"Have I missed anything?"

The queen hastily shook her head and put on a cheerful smile.

"Nonsense, Darling, I think I simply have to make sure that Josef takes some time off once in a while, he works too much but you know how he is, he never listens- if you want to talk to your father you should go now, he has a meeting with Phillippe at ten."

"Ok, I´m off- shall I take Mia back inside with me?"

"Yes, that would be good, Phillippe should spend some time with her before he starts working after all."

Pierre began walking back towards the palace, talking animatedly to the little girl on his arm while Josef fell into step next to Clarisse who began walking towards her rose garden.

"So His Majesty already adjusted to the princess, hasn´t he."

The statement sounded harmless but Clarisse knew exactly what it was about.

Josef had enjoyed being in on the little secret and he had hoped that he would remain the only one who she could talk to about her granddaughter for at least some time and now Rupert wasn´t anywhere near as upset as they all had expected.

"It looks like it- at least he told me that he would ´play house with me´ if it makes me happy."

"Interesting way to put it" Josef stated as he followed the queen into the rose garden.

"I believe you still owe me an explanation, by the way- something about giving me false hopes for a reason- funny, isn´t it? I was actually convinced you were doing it without thinking about it."

"Stop being sarcastic, it´s not as though I enjoy hurting you."

"Well, that´s reassuring of course- you are really not going to tell me, are you?"

"I can´t- I would if things were different but they are the way they are."

"Most things can be changed."

"Are we exchanging fortune cookie verses now?"

"You tell me- I wasn´t the one who started it."

"You know what? I´ll go back inside now and you can do whatever you please- I will undoubtedly see you later."

Clarisse didn´t look back to see if Josef was following her, she couldn´t bear his presence a moment longer, she needed to get away or she might do something really stupid- like telling him that sometimes she wished that she was married to him instead of her husband.

As happy as she was with Rupert, what she felt for Josef was different and she had no idea what would happen if Josef choose to actively pursue her instead of just admiring her from afar.

--

"Hello, Mum" Pierre kissed Clarisse´s cheek before sitting down next to her and putting a baby phone onto the table.

"Hello, Darling- is Mia asleep?"

"Yeap- and we went down to the kitchen and got lunch for her, Phillippe had something to eat in the office- do you know what there´ll be for lunch?"

"I don´t know, I´m sorry- I only just came back downstairs."

"I thought you were still outside with Joe- what happened?"

The queen looked back at her son, trying to find the deeper meaning in his question.

"What do you mean, Pierre- I went upstairs and Josef went back to work."

"All right- you are telling me that Josef left you out of his sight just like that."

"I really don´t know what you are implying but be assured, Josef is very responsible when it comes to his job."

"Yes, especially when it comes to the part where he is responsible of watching you."

"Nonsense- he is head of security, not my bodyguard."

"He has been- and usually he tells your official guards that he´ll go with you when you have to be somewhere, don´t deny that, Phillippe told me about San Francisco and how much time you spend with each other."

"He did in California, yes, but San Francisco isn´t Genovia and now we are back home and back in reality."

"So you admit that San Francisco was different then?"

Clarisse really didn´t know what to make of this conversation, Pierre couldn´t know anything about her less than friendly feelings towards Josef- or could he?

Her son always had been rather observing, nothing like Phillippe with his sunny, outgoing personality.

Clarisse decided that the best option she had was to carefully ease Pierre´s suspicious mind.

"Of course San Francisco was different, there wasn´t much to do, no appointments and Josef and I are friends and we had a lot of time to talk- now I´m back home, there is a lot to do, Mia to take care of and if I need someone to talk to, I talk to your father."

"Yeah, sure- come on, I´m not stupid."

"I can´t remember that I said you were."

"You seem to think it though- I have watched you and Father for twenty years and I know that you don´t love him- you like him a lot and I´d say you get along rather well but you don´t depend on him, the only person you depend on is Joe."

"Pierre-" "It´s true and you know that as well as I do- as critical as I see Father I think that he needs you a lot more than you need him."

Clarisse felt her breath quicken and knew that she was panicking, she didn´t know what to say and the longer she remained silent the more it looked as though she admitted what Pierre was accusing her of.

"I don´t blame you" her son shrugged as he helped himself to some water from a jug on the table.

"It´s not as though you could have refused to marry him after all."

"Of course I could have, it´s not the dark ages anymore."

"Anyone told your parents that?"

"Could we please stop this now? It´s getting ridiculous."

"Sure, we can do that- but you don´t have to try and pretend with me, I know that you are in love with Joe and anyone who isn´t blind can see that he´s in love with you."

Clarisse gasped indignantly.

"Excuse me? I´m not-" "Aw, but you are, Mom and I don´t mind at all, Joe is a great guy- I´ll go and see where the food is."

Pierre got up and kissed Clarisse´s head, then left her alone at the table and the queen closed her eyes, leaning back in her chair.


	12. Chapter 12

_LochlinbluSpirit: Aw, thank you- I´m so glad you like it of course, I loved the idea to toy around a little bit with Pierre, there´ll be more of that of course :D_

_bluegirl-783: Hey :D Oh, he is VERY jealous but well, he´ll have to live with that obviously- yes, Pierre knows his dear mother very well, better than she thinks... ;)_

_addlogcon: Yeah, nooooot good... Thank you very much for reviewing :D_

_Captain Weirdo: LOL- yeah, thumbs up for Pierre 3_

_Prettycrazy: Oh, uncle Pierre is fun- well, I can´t have everyone turn a blind eye, Clarisse is already arrogant enough- in a very lovely way of course ;)_

_missqueenlilian: Hey, thanks- now that´s a very nice review! Sure, I will- here´s he next part, enjoy!_

"Clarisse- what a nice surprise- what are you doing here, I didn´t expect to see you before dinner."

The king looked up from his paperwork as his wife closed the door behind herself.

"Am I disturbing you?"

"No, of course not- you know I´m always happy to see you."

His smile was warm, honest and Clarisse returned it, trying to push her bad conscience back beneath the surface.

Her son´s declaration that Rupert needed her much more than she needed him was still ringing in the queen´s ears, she had never thought about this before, to her it always had been out of the question that her husband felt the same way about her that she felt about him- deeply affectionate but nothing more.

"Darling, are you all right? You look troubled."

"No, I´m fine- have you eaten anything?"

"I had a sandwich brought up here at lunch time- I talked to Pierre by the way, perhaps we actually manage to get along again soon."

"That would be wonderful" Clarisse smiled as she sat down on the sofa, her husband coming over from his desk to join her.

"Phillippe seems to be very interested in the things we talked about today, he might turn out to be much better suited for the job than I had thought."

"So everything is sorting itself out" the queen replied, then she laughed when her husband pulled her into his lap.

"What do you think you are doing?"

"Taking a break from work."

Clarisse responded to her husband´s kisses but pulled back when she felt his hands pull her blouse out of her skirt.

"Coming back to my former question- what do you think you are doing now?"

"That depends- your friend Josef hasn´t by any chance told you whether or not there is a camera in my office?"

´Talking of killing the mood´ Clarisse thought, aloud she said "I´m sorry but the security in your office never came up- I´d recommend we´d continue your break at your suite, just to be on the safe side."

--

"Hello, Joe."

Clarisse briefly closed her eyes as Josef politely returned the king´s greetings, this couldn´t be true, why did he have to walk by Rupert´s suite right now?

Her husband kissed her cheek, then nodded at Josef and walked away back towards his office, leaving Clarisse alone with their head of security who had a very sarcastic smile on his face.

"You´re having quite a week, havn´t you- I can´t remember you two being that- active- in years."

"I´m warning you, Josef, don´t press your advantage too intensely."

"I´m having an advantage, what would that be?"

"Just let it go, I´m sure you have work to do somewhere, don´t let me keep you."

"Actually I was about to take a break."

The queen rolled her eyes.

"Where have I heard that before today?"

"I think I have an idea- any chance my lunch break might have the same outcome as his?"

She slapped him around the face hard, then stood shocked by her actions but by no means regretting it.

"How dare you treating me like that, I´m till the queen."

"So what?"

"Well, if that doesn´t impress you, then may I remind you that I also happen to be your boss?"

"What are you saying, are you planning to fire me?"

"Try me."

"I could- but I don´t want to embarrass you any further."

"You are frustrating, Josef- very frustrating."

"And that coming from someone who actually should be completely satisfied right now."

Josef avoided another slap from Clarisse by hastily stepping out of her reach, then bowed low.

"If you excuse me, Your Majesty, I´m a busy man."

"I asked you to leave minutes ago, don´t try to end this conversation on your terms- I´m the one who is going to walk away from you."

"Why are you still here, then?"

He sounded only mildly interested and Clarisse turned on her heel and angrily hurried up the corridor, she simply had to get away from him, she felt as though another moment spend in his presence would make her explode.

--

"Is she asleep?"

Clarisse sat down next to her son on the bed.

"Yes, she is- finally."

Phillippe sighed, causing his mother to smile.

"I suppose that´s another thing she has from you- it always took forever to get you to sleep."

"I´m still not a fan of sleeping- I´ll go to Pierre´s room now, we want to watch a movie together."

"That sounds nice, so have fun- I´ll stay in my rooms and read, I´ll be there if Mia wakes up."

"Ok, thank you- but only if that´s ok, I can come back later."

"No, that´s fine, Phillippe, go and enjoy your evening."

"So goodnight, Mamam."

"Goodnight, Dear."

--

The knock at her door didn´t exactly surprise Clarisse but she wasn´t happy about it anyway, she was in no mood to listen to apologies but she knew that Josef would have pondered on their fight all day long.

"Come in."

"Good evening, Madam."

"Funny- skip the formality and sit down."

"All right- I think I´ll skip the sitting down too, though, you know why I´m here?"

"Of course- you want my forgiveness."

"That sounds very melodramatic but yes, forgiveness sounds good, I´d like to sleep in peace tonight after all."

"Fine, then it will be granted, of course."

Clarisse replied in the same tone, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Wonderful- anything else?"

"You tell me."

"I´m not going to tell you anything."

"I´ll take my leave then."

"Very well."

"Your Majesty."

Clarisse glared at him but Josef didn´t react to her anger, instead he bowed and walked over to the door.

"Josef-" "Yes?"

He turned around again but remained where he was.

The queen hesitated, then she shook her head, she wanted to tell him something, anything that might make the situation easier for him but she couldn´t think of anything that would really make a difference.

"Goodnight" she finally whispered, hoping that he would understand all she wanted to say and couldn´t tell him.

He hesitated for a moment and Clarisse held her breath, then released it again when he smiled.

"Goodnight, Clarisse."


	13. Chapter 13

**addlogcon: Lol, yes, they do- like in a nice, sensible relationship with a lot of attraction but no deep romantic feelings so it´s not much cause for trouble- other than her relationship with Joe which consists of a lot attraction and deep romantic feelings plus a lot of frustration and the ability to tick each other off- dreamy... ;) Thank you for the review!**

**bluegirl-783: Thank you- I love that too, it´s very funny to write and I totally can see her being like this, I mean she´s not exactly nice and pleasant when she deals with people she doesn´t like in the movie, so why shouldn´t she get into some fights- thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**Prettycrazy: Hehe, I´d like to see that- yeah, Rupert most certainly is very good at killing the mood, isn´t he- and she does have to roll her eyes at her own thoughts rather often in here and it´s not going to get any better, I promise... She´ll still be upset with him in the morning though and they´re going to have a little talk about it all- I´ll have to divide in into two chapters because I want to update now and I don´t have time to write the whole conversation.**

**Captain Weirdo: Thank you- I´m not sure it´s so much out of character, bear in mind he´s sixteen years younger here and probably not so much in control of his emotions and desperately jealous of the king on top of it all- however, he was being impertinent but then remember the last time you were in a really hopeless position like that, didn´t you get pretty snappy as well? Sorry it took so very long :(**

**LochinbluSpirit: It sort of just fit, he really was a bit too forward with that- thank you!! :D**

**Regina-sp: Sorry it took so long- awww, that´s so sweet, thank you so much :D**

**The Queen of Mischief: Thank you- well, it was sort of fun for this story, I change POV´s usually, depends on what fits the plot- yeah, I know, the Josef/Joseph thing, it´s just that I think Josef is meant to be Spanish and then the correct spelling would be Josef, Joseph is English and he obviously is not- so that´s why I keep spelling it Josef and you´re not the first to point it out, sorry- oh, a Mia/Nic shipper, a rare thing but cool lol- well, I have to admit that I´m another Julie Andrews is my role model person, so when it comes to the movies it´s C/J- so I´m afraid I won´t be writing a Mia/Nic fic, sorry about that- besides if I would write a Mia fic at all I would write Mia/Michael, simply because I love them in the books but I don´t think I´ll do anything but C/J at all... Hehe, yes, you again- always happy to make you happy- thank you very much and please keep reading and reviewing! :D**

"Just stay where you are, I´ll go."

Clarisse turned over in bed, trying to rid herself of the intense feeling of sleepiness but it wasn´t a very successful attempt.

She had gotten up two times already and it had taken her more than half an hour to get Amelia to go back to sleep.

"What time is it?"

She asked groggily without opening her eyes and there was a faint amusement in her husband´s voice when he replied "Just after four- go back to sleep, I´ll take care of her."

Rupert closed the door to the nursery behind himself and the queen sank back into her pillow, feeling completely exhausted.

How could such a small girl have so much energy, it was as though she didn´t need any sleep at all.

She woke up again when her husband laid back down next to her and pulled her to him.

"How long did it take?"

"It´s half past four now- go back to sleep, you are going to have a very long day tomorrow."

"Hm- thank you."

"You´re welcome, Darling- you should try and knock some sense into our dear son though, he can´t expect us to get up every time his daughter wakes up, as adorable as she is, he still is her father and he should show more responsibility."

"Give him a few days to get adjusted, Rupert, he is so young and it has all been a bit too much for him."

"You have been a lot younger when both the boys were born and you could cope just fine."

The king reminded her as he gently ran his fingers through her hair.

Clarisse cast around for something to say to defend her son but she couldn´t think of anything, she simply was too tired.

"Go to sleep" her husband whispered to her, his hand still stroking her and she felt herself drift off again.

--

"Hello, Darling, have you slept a little bit after all?"

Clarisse cooed as she lifted the small girl up into her arms.

"So let´s go and have some breakfast, your grandfather is already at his office, can you imagine that?"

She carried the baby out of the room and hesitated briefly in front of Phillippe´s door, then she decided not to see if he was still asleep or not and instead wait for him downstairs.

"Your Papa really is a bit disorientated at the moment, you have to be patient with him- and I should be as well."

She had reached to entrance hall and just when she had crossed it the front doors opened and Josef came in.

Clarisse wondered for a moment if she should simply bid him good morning and then pretend to be in a hurry but then decided that she couldn´t avoid him forever anyway.

"Your Majesty."

"Good morning, Josef."

He quickly looked around, then upon seeing that the hall was deserted he turned back to Clarisse.

"Look, I´m really, really sorry about what I said yesterday, I was totally out of line."

"I already forgave you, Josef, there´s no need to mention it anymore."

He looked back at her pleadingly and she forced herself to smile but he didn´t buy it.

"Stop trying to distract me, I know you are upset and all I want is to know what I can do to really make you forgive me."

"Right, Josef, I´ll be honest with you- you really hurt me yesterday and right now I would appreciate it if you could just give me some space."

She turned away from him but he wouldn´t give up that easily.

"Why does that remind me of the last time I broke up with someone?"

He asked, sounding sarcastically and the queen briefly closed her eyes before turning around again.

"I don´t know why that is so, I have never broken up with someone."

"Of course not."

"I would have liked to several times but unfortunately you can´t simply quit this job."

Clarisse bit her lip, she had said too much and he knew it as well.

His remark was cut short by Pierre who came down the stairs and looked from his mother to Josef and back again.

"I sense tension- come, Mia, let´s go and get breakfast and let them sort it out themselves, what do you say?"

Clarisse handed the baby over to her son, she knew that Josef wouldn´t let her get away just like that and it really would be easier without Mia on her arm.

"Thank you, Pierre" she said quietly and her son winked at her, sounding amused when he whispered "I really shouldn´t make this easier for you, adultery is considered to be a sin, you know."

The queen stared back at him, completely shocked as it sunk in what he had just implied.

"Pierre, for heaven´s sake, you can´t really think-"

"Calm down, I know exactly what your relationship with Father looks like and Joe is a great guy."

"No- I mean yes but it´s not like you think."

Pierre simply kissed his mother´s cheek, then he walked away, leaving Clarisse feeling helpless and even more irritated than before.

"What was that about?"

Josef asked curiously, Pierre had obviously talked to quiet for Josef to hear.

"Never mind."

Clarisse snapped as she led the way over to the entrance door, Josef following her just like she had expected.

"I do mind, though- what did he say to tick you off like this?"

"Tick me off? I am not ticked off- what does that even mean?"

"You know what it means and you are ticked off- even more than you were before."

They had crossed the driveway and were now walking across the lawn, Clarisse heading for her rose garden without really thinking about it, she needed to get on some familiar territory if she was to survive this fight with Josef.

Now she turned to him, she suddenly didn´t care anymore if he learned what Pierre was thinking about them, the whole palace probably thought the same thing, anyway.

"You want to know? Fine, I´ll tell you. My son just reminded me of the fact that adultery is considered as a sin but that I shouldn´t bother about that too much since you were so very good for me and my marriage to his father was so obviously messed up."

It was with great satisfaction that the queen witnessed the look of utter disbelief cross Josef´s face.

"He thinks we are having an affair?"

"Obviously- come to think of it, probably everyone thinks just that- especially after my maids spread the information about how much time we spend together in San Francisco all over the place."

"So now it´s my fault?"

"I never said that- it´s out fault, Josef, we are both responsible for any rumors that may exist and we have to stop acting that way around each other."

"What way, exactly?"

"The way that makes us feel as though we had just ended a love affair when he had a fight" she told him, avoiding his gaze.

"So it does feel the same way to you" he concluded and Clarisse nodded heavily.

"Josef, you must know how I feel about you- with Rupert there has always been a lot of attraction, he is a dear friend, a lover, a partner in everyday life but I don´t love him, I love you and I think you do know that yourself."


	14. Chapter 14

**dreamer 3097: Thanks a lot :D**

**addlogcon: Lol you did- not that I wouldn´t love hearing it again :D Well, yeah, Pierre is a smart guy, isn´t he- oh, Rupert HAS heard the - rumors- more about that now... ;)**

**Prettycrazy: Thanks- uhm, good question, actually I made him be there so Clarisse could sleep a little while he took care of Mia- never mind, just imagine he had decided to spend the night there, they are married after all and - at least up to then- have a more or less functional relationship- yes, fights rule... ;)**

**bluegirl-783: Yeap- they sure can- you know, two stubborn and temperamental people with a lot of frustration between them- nice recipe for a good story ;) Yeap, Pierre- aw, I adore Pierre- however, more now!**

_**I apologize to all Rupert/Clarisse fans and I feel really bad about this but it was just too good to miss, please keep reading anyway... (Running away as quickly as I can...)**_

She turned away from him, desperately trying to get back in control but when she felt his hand hesitantly touching her arm she couldn´t hold back her tears anymore- Josef´s arms wrapped around her and she buried her face in his shirt.

"Shh, don´t cry, I´m sorry, I didn´t want to make you cry."

He sounded as helpless as she felt, why was everything so difficult lately, had the few weeks they had spent at San Francisco really changed their relationship so much that they couldn´t go back to what it had been before now?

"No, I am sorry" she sobbed as she felt his arms tighten around her, "it´s not your fault, none of it is, it´s mine, I´m a bad wife and a horrible friend and I hate myself for it, for hurting you."

"You aren´t horrible, how can you even think something like that."

His voice was warm, soothing and the queen relaxed, her sobs becoming quieter and she leaned against Josef´s chest, feeling exhausted.

"Come on, let us go back inside."

He took a handkerchief out of his pocked and handed it to her, then waited until she had dried her tears.

"Better?"

"You shouldn´t be the one asking this- I should be."

"Clarisse, you aren´t doing anything wrong, you are trying to make everyone around you happy, I´m the one who constantly brings you into compromising situations, I have to no right now interfere with your marriage and I keep doing it anyway."

She couldn´t understand how he could be so supportive, he should be furious and instead he was comforting her, it made her want to cry again and never stop, she felt so terribly guilty for keeping him in her life and yet she needed him, depended on him even.

"You should leave" she told him, trying not to see the panic in his eyes, "you should run away as far as you can and find someone who can really love you and treat you the way you deserve."

"Is that what you want?"

"God, no- that´s the last thing I want, I am selfish and I want you near me but you shouldn´t throw your life away."

"I´m not throwing my life away, I have the privilege to be near the woman I love every day, what more could I ask for."

Clarisse felt as though her heart would burst with tenderness for him at every moment and yet she knew she couldn´t give to her feelings and she had to get away from him before she threw caution to the wind.

"I´m sorry, I have to go- please, Josef, let me go."

She pleaded with him and after a moment of hesitation he stepped back from her and Clarisse hurried away from him, back across the lawn towards the palace.

The doorman barely had time to open the doors for her and she ran up the staircase, not caring about the looks she was attracting from her staff, they weren´t used to her in such an obvious state of distress, she was supposed to be calm and in control and leave the tantrums to her husband and eldest son- well, she only was human after all.

She almost collided with her husband as she rushed past his office and Rupert grabbed her upper arms and held her in place, a look of deep concern on his face.

"Clarisse, what happened?"

She looked back at him, incapable to say anything, she was too scared that she might betray her emotions and she couldn´t have him suspecting anything, it was bad enough that her son obviously thought that she as betraying her husband.

"Darling, talk to me, what is wrong?"

He gathered her in his arms and Clarisse instantly started to cry again, he was so wonderful to her and she couldn´t love him the way he deserved, what was wrong with her?

The office door opened but Clarisse didn´t look up, she didn´t want anyone to see her like this and she flinched when she heard her son´s voice.

"Mamam?"

Rupert held Clarisse still tighter as he turned to Phillippe.

"Phillippe, could you please call the kitchen and have some tea brought up to your mother´s suite? I´ll take your mother back up there and come back when I´m sure she is all right."

"Of course, Father."

Clarisse felt the gentle touch of her son´s hand briefly on her shoulder, then Phillippe pulled the office door close again and Rupert lifted her up into his arms.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her down the corridor, her head leaned against his shoulder, her eyes closed, she was too tired to cry anymore, too tired to think, all she wanted was to sleep.

Inside her bedroom her husband put her down onto the bed and sat down next to her, his fingers toying with her hair.

"Now tell me, Clarisse, what happened?"

She shook her head and still remained silent when he carefully cupped her cheek and made her look at him.

"Is this about Joe?"

Clarisse´s eyes widened in shock, her head started to spin as she fought to sit up but Rupert wouldn´t let her, he held her firmly but gently down on the bed.

"Don´t, Darling, you aren´t in any condition to sit up, just stay where you are- so is it about Joe, did you two have a fight?"

"Has Pierre said anything to you?"

Clarisse whispered, it was the only possible explanation and yet she couldn´t imagine her son mentioning something to his father- it might have happened during their fight though and she couldn´t even blame Pierre if it had.

"Pierre? No- you mean he knows?"

"He- knows what?"

Now she felt confused and she finally sat up, her confusion momentarily letting her forget her distress.

The king looked a little uncomfortable for a moment, then he shrugged.

"You and Josef- I didn´t think- oh well, never mind."

"What about Josef and me- Rupert, what are you trying to say?"

Now he looked surprised.

"Pierre did tell you he knows about your relationship with Josef, didn´t he?"

Clarisse had the feeling to fall through thick fog, everything seemed to slow down as the incredible impact of her husband´s words sank in.

"You think I´m having an affair?"

Her voice didn´t sound like her own at all, it was quiet, incredulous and the king´s frown deepened.

"Think- what do you mean I think you are having an affair- you are, aren´t you."

She couldn´t do anything but stare at him, she felt as though seeing him for the first time, all the familiarity suddenly giving way for the truth, she didn´t know her husband, she didn´t know him at all.

"Rupert, tell me you don´t mean this, please."

She begged, her heart racing, she felt very cold suddenly and she pulled her cardigan tighter around herself, dreading his answer.

"Clarisse, I don´t understand-"

"You really think- oh my God!"

"Darling, calm down, I´m don´t mind, it´s all right."

"You- what?"

He was smiling at her soothingly, obviously unaware that she was bordering hysteria.

"You really thought I would mind? Clarisse, Darling, we´re all human, I don´t expect you to be a saint."

It took her a moment to fully comprehend what he had said, then suddenly she realized the truth behind his calm words.

"Rupert- are you having an affair?"

He finally seemed to realize that something in this conversation wasn´t going as planned and his expression closed slightly.

"Answer me!"

She got up from the bed, towering over him, her voice breaking as she demanded the truth from him.

"Clarisse-"

"Who is she?"

The queen felt as though watching herself from the outside, this had nothing to do with herself, this hysterical woman wasn´t her, it had to be someone else.

Rupert was still sitting on her bed, starting at her as though seeing her for the first time, their world was crashing down around them and yet Clarisse understood that it had never existed like she had thought it to be, while she had lived their marriage in the illusion of it being founded on faith and trust.

To him she was nothing like a friend, a partner who shared his working load- apart from that she was just another beautiful woman, just one of many for Clarisse had understood from her husband´s reaction when she had demanded to hear a name that he wasn´t having an affair with a certain woman but rather taking what life offered- oh what a fool she had been, everyone probably knew about it, everyone but her.

"Get out."

"Clarisse-"

"Get out, I mean it- leave me alone, Rupert."

He didn´t argue any further, he left her room and Clarisse fell back down on the bed and buried her face in her pillow as the tears began to fall once more.


	15. Chapter 15

**Prettycrazy: Lol- yeah, I thought it might be better to squeeze into some box and wait until everyone has run past me with the forks and torches ;) She IS selfish, isn´t she- understandable though- Thank you, I´m glad you liked that! Sorry about that- I thought it was such a nice twist- technically it´s a Mia/Clarisse centered story of course but since I don´t want to skip all of Mia´s childhood to where she actually is old enough to make for interesting conversations I have to bring in some adult stuff as well- I didn´t want Clarisse to just walk in on her husband with someone else or listen to a conversation or something, so I thought having this series of misunderstanding and then him telling her himself would make for a nice change. Of course it also is interesting to have her realize how little she really knows about him and how naive she has been- well, they WERE fairly happy, just on a very different level- I know a lot of relationships where people are not desperately and passionately in love with each other and rather are good friends with attraction between them, so I believe that can work. Well, they obviously have to get past it, they can hardly get divorced- Clarisse will somewhat break up with him though, at least as far as their marital relationship is concerned, like I said, it´s meant to be Mia- centered and I want to have Mia in this complicated web of several adults who don´t have specific places in her life- like Clarisse is going to be her motherly figure though of course there´s still Helen and Rupert is married to Clarisse though since her father is around all the time she´ll see Rupert strictly as her grandfather and then when she gets older she´ll sense that her grandparent´s relationship seems to be complicated and then there´s Josef- it´s going to be all very messed up, it sounds confusing enough as it is already ;)**

**Fire Dolphin: Thank you- lol, nothing like crazy emotions :D I will now, thanks for reading!**

**Mary P fan: Thanks- hehe, I always do that when reading too- sorry, he sort of thought it was the natural thing to do and couldn´t really imagine his wife not doing the same- well, she´ll get over it- more or less- thank you :D**

**dreamer 3097: Thank you :)**

**Zsulie: Thanks :D Lol, if she can persuade Josef that she is serious about it they probably will...**

**addlogcon: Aww, thank you- I´m sorry about that, I just needed some drama in all the fluff- he´s not really having an affair with someone special, he´s rather cheating for the chase or because he´s bored, something like that- hm, yeah but he won´t go with it straight away, you know, he´s a gentleman and all... ;)**

**bluegirl- 783: Good advice, I´ll pass it on to her ;) Hehe, I thought instead of having an affair without anyone knowing I´d make everyone think what isn´t true- thank you very much for reading and reviewing!**

**Captain Weirdo: Aw, thanks- Hehe, me too, because we know nothing about him which means we can just play ;) Oh, sure, it´s always complicated to keep track with things like that when you havn´t written the story yourself I think- hehe rotten is NOT nice but fits of course- yes, I agree, it does- I´m sorry it took so long, so more now :D**

**risingdancer: Aw, sorry- I´ll update now and I hope it´s funnier- at least I did my best ;)**

_Hey everyone- I have included sort of a flashback in this part, it popped up in my head when I re- read the second volume of PD and I thought it wasn´t enough for a one shot, so I saved it to fit it in somewhere and I think it´s quite ok for this story- for anyone who has not read the books, Helen´s parents are from Greece and they are living in Indiana and Helen avoids to visit them or to interact with them because they are- well- weird- just to keep track on the age confusions, in my personal PD fanfic world Clarisse married Rupert when she was sixteen and Pierre was born when she seventeen and Phillippe when she was eighteen, I know some people think it´s too young but you can get married in Europe at sixteen with your parent´s approval, so I think for an arranged royal marriage it is in order- so in here Mia was born when Phillippe was twenty one which makes him twenty in the Flashback and Clarisse thirty eight, just to make sure it´s all understandable. I´ll stop annoying you all with my boring explanations now and post the chapter ;) Enjoy!_

"Clarisse?"

She didn´t know how long she had been lying on her bed, the room was semi dark now, it must be rather late.

She felt his hand on her back, warm and comforting and she pressed herself close to him as he pulled her into his arms.

For a long time he just held her, neither of them feeling the need to speak but finally it was Clarisse who broke the silence.

"Why are you here?"

"Rupert" he simply replied and the queen understood and relaxed back into the warm embrace.

"You knew, didn´t you."

"Yes."

He didn´t start to apologize or justify and she was grateful for it, she knew he would have told her hadn´t he been convinced that he would hurt her more than by keeping his silence and he was probably right, she would have felt pressured, would have felt as though she owed it to him to commit to him, that he had only told her to force her to commit.

Now it wasn´t like that, now she had found by herself and all her beliefs had shattered, now there was only Josef left- Josef and her love for him.

"I feel like such a fool" she whispered, fresh tears starting to stream down her cheeks and she felt him brush them away, then his lips brushing across her forehead.

"Don´t feel foolish for trusting someone, Clarisse- he doesn´t deserve that."

"He thought we were having an affair- he told me he didn´t mind, can you believe that?"

She straightened up, impatiently wiping her tears away- Josef didn´t do anything to pull her back to him, still scared that she would start accusing him for not having told her once she had pulled herself back together and Clarisse felt the desperate need to assure him that it wouldn´t happen, not now, not ever.

His lips were warm when she kissed him, soft, the kiss was gentle but deepening instantly, a promise of more than just a momentary connection.

She drew back and looked at him, unsure what to make of the expression on his face.

"Josef?"

"I´m sorry- you shocked me a little."

"Why? The only reason I havn´t done this before is that I wanted to be faithful to my husband- I thought that was what our marriage was about, having faith in each other, trusting each other- it was all an illusion, there is no need for this attitude anymore."

"You should take some time to think about this properly, Clarisse- your husband loves you, maybe he hasn´t a good way of showing it and maybe his idea of love is different from yours but he does love you- he was devastated when he came to find me, he told me he had made the most horrible mistake and asked me to make sure you were all right."

"As if he cares."

"He does care- he will apologize to you and he will ask you to forgive him- you need to think about this and to decide what to do- and the last thing you should occupy your mind with is me now."

"Don´t you want me to do just that?"

She asked, sounding hurt, almost stubborn and she instantly felt ashamed when she saw the sad expression on Josef´s face.

"You don´t know what I would give for a chance with you- it´s not the right time, though and you know that yourself."

Clarisse didn´t reply, he was right, at least from his point of view- for her it was much easier, she was through with her husband, whatever Rupert might say to her, he had destroyed her trust in him, the one thing their relationship had been based on.

She had thought it her duty to keep their marriage alive even after her children had been born, she had thought that her husband deserved his family life to be intact, a save haven to draw strength from for the duty he had to fulfill towards their beloved country- now it was clear that this haven she had relied on had never really existed- the heirs were produced, the monarchy secured and the queen felt that her duty to the king where their private life was concerned was over.

"I mean it, Josef- but I can accept that you are feeling apprehensive, I will prove to you that I´m serious."

He nodded slowly.

"Do you want to stay up here or go down for dinner?"

"I don´t want to go down- at least not tonight, maybe tomorrow morning- where is Mia?"

"She is asleep, Phillippe fed her and took her to bed."

"Really- well, maybe he will get used to being a father after all- will you stay here with me?"

He looked hesitant.

"Are you sure that´s a good idea?"

"Josef, it´s you who doesn´t want anything between us to happen- at least not now- so yes, it is perfectly fine, we have managed so many awkward situations, we can manage this too."

Josef started to chuckle and Clarisse looked up at him, confused.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Nothing, it´s just- I had to think about that memorable afternoon when we met Helen´s parents."

"Don´t remind me- that was truly horrible, wasn´t it?"

"It sure was."

Clarisse leaned against Josef´s chest again, remembering that day almost two years ago.

_"Are you sure this is the right address?"_

_"I´m afraid so, Your Majesty."_

_Was the only reply and Clarisse Renaldi sighed exasperatedly._

_"Josef, what am I going to do with the boy?"_

_"I´m afraid I´m not the right person to discuss that with, Madam."_

_He got out of the passenger seat and walked around the limousine to open the door for her, then extended his hand to help her out of the car._

_Clarisse carefully set her shiny high heeled shoe onto the uneven pavement and straightened up to her full height before looking around the shabby street._

_She noticed several people who had stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of the black limousine and were now staring at her in awe- the queen could sort of see what was causing this, she was standing in a side street of a tiny Indiana town, dressed in Prada from head to foot with her eyes hidden beyond large sunglasses, not to mention that she had arrived in a limousine with a chauffeur and a bodyguard._

_"I think we should get inside as quickly as possible" Josef said quietly as he reached for her arm and stirred her towards the front door of the nearest building._

_"I can´t help but feel as though I won´t fit in" Clarisse mused and Josef smiled amusedly as he took in the sight of her dress and shoes._

_"I´m afraid you won´t, Your Majesty- shall I ring the doorbell?"_

_"Please do- you will be coming upstairs with me, won´t you?"_

_"Of course, I would hardly let you go alone."_

_They door was opened by a girl with curly dark hair, dressed in an overall that might have been white at some point but now was plastered with paint in all colors and Clarisse summoned her most winning smile on her face._

_"Hello, Helen- I´m afraid we are a little bit late, it was rather hard to find."_

_"Hello" the young woman replied, not giving the slightest sign that she was impressed by the queen´s presence nor even looking at Josef._

_Helen led the way up a narrow staircase, Clarisse and Josef following behind, the former trying to ready herself for the unpleasant conversation that was before her._

_"Is Phillippe even here?"_

_The queen couldn´t help but ask and Helen turned around just outside a door on top of the staircase._

_"Yeap- I mean yes, sorry- uhm- shall we go in then?"_

_Clarisse only now understood how nervous the girl really was and she thought that this couldn´t be a good sign._

_She followed Helen inside her parent´s flat with Josef still right behind her and found her son on the living room sofa with his parent´s in law._

_"Mamam-" Phillippe hastily got up and she allowed him to kiss her cheek before turning to Helen´s parents and finding them staring at her disbelievingly._

_"Good afternoon- I´m Clarisse Renaldi, Phillippe´s mother."_

_"You are his mother? You can´t be much older than Helen- is that a family thing with you, having kids before you´re grown up?"_

_Helen´s father didn´t sound hostile, rather shocked and when Clarisse took a moment to look around the living room she realized that she was even more out of place in her fancy clothes and her way to talk than she had feared._

_"I assure you I am older than your daughter" she said airily, glancing warningly at Josef who looked outraged._

_Helen´s father seemed to decide to try and simply get along with his strange visitors and he got up from the sofa and stepped around the table._

_"So- do sit down- are you Phillippe´s father?"_

_He asked Josef who bit his lip._

_"No-"_

_Clarisse interrupted him._

_"My husband, Rupert, unfortunately couldn´t fit the trip into his schedule."_

_"Oh-" Helen´s father seemed to be taken aback but Helen´s mother was a bit more outspoken._

_"He couldn´t fit it in? This is about his son and the child, isn´t that more important than a job?"_

_Helen´s father turned to his wife._

_"Do you always have to be so common? Go and make fresh coffee."_

_The woman left without a comment and it finally dawned on Clarisse that this would be a lot harder than she could have anticipated and she rounded on Phillippe, her cheerful voice adapting an icy note._

_"Phillippe, Darling, could it be that you somehow have failed to tell Mr. and Mrs. Thermopolis who we are?"_

_Her son paled and Clarisse briefly closed her eyes, then said "Helen, Phillippe, would you mind leaving us alone for a moment?"_

_The young couple almost fled from the room and Clarisse turned back to her host._

_"I obviously do owe you an explanation."_

_"You sure do- and what did you mean, we don´t know who you are?"_

_Josef cleared his voice and Helen´s father fell silent again while Clarisse sat down at the sofa opposite him._

_"My son told me you immigrated from Greece?"_

_"Yeah- what´s that got to do with the baby?"_

_"I will explain it to you, Mr. Thermopolis, if you would listen to me- you do know where Genovia is?"_

_"Sure- it´s somewhere near France, posh country where people don´t have to pay taxes- that´s where you are from?"_

_Clarisse´s smile tightened somewhat._

_"I would appreciate you showing more respect for my country, Mr. Thermopolis- my son, the father of your grandchild, is the crown prince of Genovia which makes this child the next in line for the throne after him- I hope you now understand that this has a lot to do with it all."_

_Helen´s father seemed lost for words, much to Clarisse´s satisfaction who inwardly cursed Phillippe for having been so stupid._

_Finally the man opposite her seemed to find his voice again._

_"Crown prince- but- that means you are- the queen?"_

_"That would be me- I hope you will forgive my husband for not having cleared his schedule for an entire week now."_

_She usually didn´t like to be so arrogant but it seemed to be the only way to make the man in front of her understand the importance of the situation and she needed him to understand, they had to find a solution for both Helen and Phillippe and of course for the child as well._

_Helen had made it quite clear that she had no interest to move to Genovia and after Pierre´s abdication Phillippe had had to make a decision and he had chosen to become crown prince in his brother´s place._

_The young couple would get divorced and the queen had flown over to Indiana to talk to Helen and her parents and find a way to deal with the situation- of course she hadn´t even dreamed that Phillippe had failed to inform his wife´s parents about his family._

_Helen´s father was visibly casting around for something matter-of-factly to say and he finally turned to Josef._

_"So who would you be then?"_

_"I am Her Majesty´s bodyguard."_

_Josef replied dryly, obviously still displeased with the lack of respect that had been shown towards his queen._

"I had trouble to stay calm, he was being so impertinent to you, it was outraging."

Josef was gently stroking her hand and Clarisse smiled.

"It wasn´t his fault, Josef, Phillippe and Helen should have warned her parents before we got there."

"That might have been a good idea, yes- I wonder what they are saying now."

"I don´t think they´re too disappointed, they didn´t show much interest in the baby or in Helen as a matter of fact- they were glad when I assured them that we would cover all expenses back then and they will be now."

"Probably- do you want to check on Mia before you go to sleep?"

"I´d better do- she might wake up several times tonight, I hope you aren´t a light sleeper."

"That´s fine, not everyone gets woken up by a royal princess at night" Josef joked as Clarisse got up and straightened her clothes.

"If you insist on seeing it that way- I will be right back, just make yourself comfortable."

Mia was fast asleep and Clarisse watched her for a moment before closing the door of the nursery behind herself again.

She felt relieved, she had feared that her husband might wait for her in her granddaughter´s room but obviously Rupert had for once understood that apologies wouldn´t make a difference, not this time.

She found Josef in front of her TV in the living room, watching a news magazine and at the sound of her footsteps he looked up, then patted the sofa next to him and making room for her to sit down.

"I thought you´d be much longer."

"Amelia is sleeping, I didn´t want to wake her up- I´m not very tired actually and I don´t think I could sleep even if I was."

"I have ordered something to eat- you don´t have to eat anything of course but it would be good if you did, you have missed lunch and dinner already."

"I suppose you are right- like always. What have you ordered?"

"Pasta- something light and a bottle of Merlot, how does that sound?"

"It sounds great- have you thought about dessert?"

Josef laughed.

"Of course, I believe there was some cherry cake left, I hope that agrees with you."

"As long as it is sweet enough it does- is there anything on TV? Other than what you are watching I mean."

"It´s not very interesting actually, it simply was the first thing I came across- I believe there´s a James Bond movie in about half an hour."

"Connery or Moore?"

"Connery."

"Then you have yourself a deal" Clarisse smiled at Josef´s expression.

"Don´t worry, you are much more handsome than him- I like him though and he was the best Bond, don´t you agree?"

"I hope everyone agrees to that- now we are both more or less awake again, what are you planning to do?"

"I havn´t thought about it yet- I suppose I will have to talk to Rupert in the morning, I can hardly avoid him for the rest of my life. I hope PIerre and Phillippe won´t hear anything about all this."

"Knowing Pierre he probably already has figured it out."

"Yes, you are right- I´ll just get up tomorrow and see what the day will be like."


	16. Chapter 16

Hey everyone, sorry it took forever to update... Hope you´ll all like the next part anyway :D

Clarisse snuggled deeper into Josef´s warm embrace while watching Sean Connery´s adventures in her Majesty´s secret service.

"I wish I had my own secret forces" the queen sighed and Josef chuckled softly before kissing her hair.

"You do? Why is that?"

"They would do whatever I told them without anyone ever being any the wiser."

"I would do that as well, Your Majesty- now let´s get you into bed, you´re practically falling asleep."

"Hm- I´m too tired to get up though, I think I´ll just stay where I am."

She closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of Josef´s body so close to her´s.

"Just go to sleep, I´ll carry you into the bedroom later."

"Stay with me, will you?"

"Yes, don´t worry."

---

"Good morning, Clarisse."

The king´s voice sounded insecure and Clarisse smiled coldly at her husband as she sat down opposite him.

"Good morning, Rupert- at what time will we be leaving for lunch?"

"At half past eleven- Clarisse, I-"

"Don´t."

She advised him, reaching for the tea pot.

"I don´t care to hear any explanations or apologies."

"But Clarisse, we have to talk about this."

The king sounded devastated, he looked as though he hadn´t slept at all, a fact the queen noticed with grim satisfaction.

"Not as far as I am concerned- if you want to talk, call my office and make an appointment, I´m very busy this week."

"You can´t be serious- Clarisse, you are my wife."

"I´m the Queen of Genovia, Rupert- it´s my job and I intend to submit the same devotion to it in future as I have in the past- that, however, is all I´m intending to continue doing."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I consider any relations between us that aren´t strictly linked with ruling our country as being over."

"You can´t be serious."

The queen calmly finished her tea, then sat the cup back down on it´s saucer before turning back to her husband.

"I can´t remember ever having been more serious about anything in my life- now excuse me please, I have to see to my mail before I get ready for lunch."

Clarisse got up from her chair again, leaving her husband to stare after her as she swept out of the room.

---

"Hello, my Darling" Clarisse cooed as she lifted the little princess out of her bed.

Mia sleepily smiled back at her before leaning against her grandmother´s chest.

"I´m afraid there is no going back to sleep, Sweetheart, I have to go and get ready for my lunch appointment and you are going to spend the rest of the morning with your father."

Clarisse put the baby down onto the floor and walked over to the dresser to choose something for the girl to wear, then she lifted Mia up onto the changing table.

"Look, what do you think of this one?"

She held up a pale pink dress and a white blouse, smiling when Mia reached for the soft fabric.

"Yes, you do have a good taste, don´t you- so let´s get you dressed and then you and your Dad can have breakfast together.

She had just finished dressing the baby when the door opened and Phillippe entered the room, looking rather sleepy.

"Good morning, Mamam- hello, Baby doll."

He kissed Clarisse´s cheek, then picked Mia up and cuddled the small girl to his chest.

"How do you manage to get up so early and look so awake?"

He inquired as Clarisse folded Mia´s nightshirt up.

"You´ll get used to it in time- I have to go now, I have to attend a fascinating lunch with some parliament members."

"Poor you- where is Dad, is he coming with you?"

"He is- as to his whereabouts, I have no idea."

Phillippe looked irritated.

"Is anything wrong?"

"Nothing you have to concern yourself with- now go on, Mia will get fussy if she doesn´t get breakfast soon."

Clarisse shooed her son out of the door, then walked over into her own suite to get dressed for lunch.

She walked down the stairs in the entrance hall at twenty to one, being her customary ten minutes late but this time the king, who was waiting for her inside the doors, didn´t dare make a comment about it.

"I wish to travel alone, get me a car" the queen snapped at the doorman who sprang into action at once while Rupert bit his lip but still didn´t say anything.

Clarisse walked straight past her husband without looking at him, then smiled warmly at Josef who was holding the door open for her.

"Thank you- are you coming with me?"

"Obviously- I don´t want to hear it from anyone else if you murder him with a steak knife."

Josef whispered back, causing Clarisse to chuckle softly.

"Thank you?"

"What for?"

"For making me laugh- I didn´t think I would today."

"Anytime."

Clarisse watched Rupert get into the first car and her own pulled up just when the king´s had reached the gates.

Josef helped her into the back of the car and Clarisse had already put up the privacy screen when he got in himself and closed the door.

"Havn´t you talked to him at all?"

She shook her head.

"I informed him at breakfast that I consider any relations between us that don´t concern ruling the country to be over- he wasn´t pleased but I didn´t give him time to respond, I left."

"You really are being serious about this, aren´t you."

"I have told you so- do you think we can change protocol so we can always travel separately from now on?"

"I suppose that won´t be much of a problem, we separate the princes from you as well after all, we can simply spread that we have extended our security measures."

"Good- I want to spend as little time with him in future as possible, especially in places where I can´t get away from him, like the back of a car."

Lunch went rather uneventful, both queen and king making polite conversations with their hosts and agreeing on political matters and no one who didn´t know about their fight would have guessed that there was anything amiss between the royal couple.

Josef could see the signs though, the way Clarisse flinched when she accidently brushed against her husband´s arm, the coldness in her eyes when she smiled at the king to demonstrate unity in front of the members of parliament, the slight edge in her voice when she was forced to address her husband directly.

He ushered her into the car without giving the king a chance to try and talk to her again and when Rupert arrived at the palace the queen had already withdrawn to her office to see to her paper work.

Josef was still in the hall to inform the doormen of the fact that Their Majesties would be traveling separately in future when the king approached him.

Josef dismissed the doormen and turned to the other man whose face bore a pained expression.

"Josef, may I talk to you for a moment?"

"Of course, Your Majesty."

"In my office, perhaps?"

Josef nodded his consent and followed the king up the staircase and down the corridor that lead to the office.

He took the seat Rupert offered him, then waited curiously for the other man to begin, he was very interested in what Clarisse´s husband would say to him after having ruined his relationship with his wife by accusing her to have an affair with him, Josef.

"So- I suppose Clarisse has told you everything that happened?"

The king began, his forwardness surprising Josef who managed to keep a straight face all the same.

"She has."

"Look, Josef, I´m in a complete ridiculous situation here- I have been married to this woman for twenty two years and believe me or not, I love her. Maybe I´m not the perfect one and only guy women dream about but I have really tried to make this work and up to now I thought I had done a fairly good job- until yesterday, God, I still can´t believe she actually thought- anyway, I have to find a way to make it up to her again."

Now Josef felt really irritated, he had been waiting for the king to console him for getting too close to his wife and instead the other man was asking for relationship advice?

"Come on, Josef, she won´t even talk to me, you have to tell me what she said to you."

"I´m afraid I can´t do that, Your Majesty, with all due respect but Clarisse confided in me and I won´t betray her trust."

"Damn it, Josef, could you stop being the noble man for just one minute and help me out here?"

"Your Majesty, like you already pointed out, you have been married to your wife for a long time and you know her as well as I do- Clarisse isn´t a woman who just talks, she means when she says and I suppose I won´t be saying too much when I tell you that she isn´t willing to forgive you or even listen to any apologies from you."

"How is she working this out? She is my wife, we are supposed to be a happy couple, we can´t simply ignore each other."

"She didn´t say she´d ignore you- she showed today that she is more than capable to make a difference between her private and her public life- what I don´t understand, Sir, is what exactly it is that is making you believe I could help you out of your situation."

"Come on, Joe, you know exactly what makes me think that, I don´t care what happened between you and my wife in the meantime or if anything happened at all but I need you to help me."


	17. Chapter 17

_dreamer 3097: Thank you :D_

_Captain Weirdo: I´m SO sorry it took so long, I´m so busy at school right now- anyway, he WILL come up with some rather interesting proposition that will cause a lot of trouble of course... Please keep r&r ;)_

_addlogcon: Thanks- well, uhm, I´m back again- actually I keep hanging around, I´m simply too busy to write anything- so sorry for the long wait. Not yet, he still has some ideas to make her change her mind... ;)_

_Prettycrazy: Oh, don´t worry, you will, just not on a regular basis- but I´m trying- she won´t but she might change her mind anyway- well, you´ll find out soon :D Thanks for reading and reviewing!_

_bluegirl 783: Thank you- uhm yes, I know, I´m lazy- however, Rupert is not going to do anything with Josef, he´s at least smart enough to know that if he would his last chance to make Clarisse change her mind is not to mistreat Joe ;)_

_tabby-fanny: I just love this name... I´m sorry, well, I´m trying to be a bit quicker again- lol, nice idea, I´ll see what I can do... Oh, yes, there´ll be more Mia/Clarisse again of course, once the whole relationship mess is sorted out- and writing Pierre and Phillippe is always fun :D_

Poppinswannabe: I´m sorry for keeping you waiting of course- so here´s the next part, I think the next after this one will be easier to write, I sort of had reached an impasse with this one- anyway, please keep reading and reviewing! :)

---

"With all due respect, Sir- this is between yourself and Clarisse."

Josef stated firmly, he wasn´t going to give in, no matter how the king tried to persuade him.

Rupert Renaldi threw his hands into the air, obviously exasperated.

"What do I have to do, Josef, should I go down onto my knees and beg?"

"That wouldn´t make any difference, Your Majesty, my loyalty here lies with the queen."

The king glowered at him for a long moment, then he sighed, defeated.

"I see this is no good- you may go- at least tell Clarisse to consider letting me explain."

"I can do that, Sir."

Josef answered curtly, his hand already lying on the door handle.

"You don´t think it will make a difference though" the king observed and Josef nodded.

"Yes, that is what I am thinking."

"You knew- why are you so unwaveringly on her side in this?"

"I knew, Your Majesty, that doesn´t mean I approved- quite the opposite, I can´t even begin to understand how you could ever look at anyone but her."

"When did this conversation turn against me?"

"If I may say so, actually I think it was against you from the very beginning."

"Hm- I suppose I asked you to talk to me and now I can´t hold a grudge against you, even though I know that you most likely will be sharing my wife´s bed in future nights."

Josef didn´t comment on the king´s concealed question, it wasn´t up to him to discuss his relationship with Clarisse with her husband, Clarisse would do that herself in time.

"Would that be all, Sir?"

"I suppose so."

Josef nodded to the king, then he pulled the office door shut behind himself and quickly strode down the corridor towards the staircase that would lead him towards the queen´s quarters.

He met her just outside the door with Mia on her arm, a smile spreading across her face when she saw him.

"Josef, there you are- where have you been?"

"His Majesty cornered me downstairs, he wanted to talk about you."

Clarisse´s eyes widened in surprise.

"He wanted to talk about me? He can´t honestly have thought you´d discuss this with him, can he."

"Obviously" Josef replied, grateful for her unwavering trust in him.

"I told him that he would have to work this out with you."

"I suppose he wasn´t very happy about that" Clarisse mused while opening the door to the nursery and stepping inside.

"No- that´s not exactly my problem though, is it."

Josef watched the queen put her granddaughter down into the crib and covering her with a soft blanket before straightening up and turning around to him.

"That´s what I keep telling you, you should stop thinking about Rupert at all and rather talk to me about us."

Josef sighed, he knew she wouldn´t let him off as easily as she had the night before and of course she was right, they would have to talk about their future relationship rather sooner than later.

Clarisse gently stroked Mia´s hair out of her forehead, then she motioned for Josef to follow her and walked out of the nursery and over into her private suite.

"Please sit down, I´ll ring for some tea- are you hungry?"

"Not necessarily but I wouldn´t say no to some cake anyway."

The queen walked over to the phone and Josef sat down on the sofa, trying to get comfortable but it didn´t work too well, the conversation he had had with the king was still replaying in his head and the prospect of Clarisse wanting to talk about their relationship didn´t exactly serve to calm him down.

"Don´t look so tense, I´m not planning to behead you- I just want to talk."

She sat down next to him and leaned her head against his shoulder and Josef automatically wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer against him.

"I´m sorry, it´s just all been a bit much today- I think I´ll need some time to get used to the thought that you´re not unreachable anymore."

"Is it so very bad?"

She teased him gently, her fingertips tracing small patterns on his chest.

"Of course not- just too good to be true."

"It can be true, you just have to accept it, then we can make it work."

"What are you going to tell your sons and what are you going to tell Amelia, they will all notice sooner or later."

"I honestly don´t know, Josef, all I know is that I want to be with you, no, I need to be with you, I love you."

There was silence for a while, then Josef gently kissed the queen´s temple and when she relaxed against him, a feeling of utter contentment settled upon him.

Perhaps she was right, perhaps they could make this work- he at least had every intention to do anything he could think of to do so.

---

The door to her office opened and the queen looked up, the smile vanishing from her face at the sight of her visitor.

"I thought I had told you to make an appointment" she told her husband coldly, getting up and rounding the desk.

The king nodded heavily.

"I know, Clarisse and I`m sorry- I really need to talk to you."

"I´m not interested in talking to you, havn´t I made that clear?"

"You have of course- I have a proposition to make and I´d appreciate it very much if you heard me out."

Clarisse briefly closed her eyes, praying for patience, then she glared at Rupert.

"I won´t listen to anything you have to say, I simply want you out of my office right now."

"Clarisse, I´d do anything to make you forgive me, I´ll even share you, just don´t shut me out, I love you."

"You don´t love me- what do you mean you would share me?"

Clarisse asked, despite herself, his words had taken her by surprise and she wanted to know if she had understood him correctly.

"I would- if you want to be with Josef I´ll be fine with it as long as you will spend time with me, you can even have that baby you so desperately wanted, I won´t even ask if I´m the father, just please consider, please my Darling."

Clarisse was too stunned to do anything but stare at him for a moment, had he really just said what she had thought to hear?

"Have you- have you just told me I could have a child with Josef and you wouldn´t mind?"

It sounded even more ridiculous now she said it but her husband nodded.

"That´s what I said, Clarisse, I need you, I´d do anything, please at least think about it."

The queen sank down onto the sofa, feeling overwhelmed.

"Rupert, could you leave me alone, please? I need to think."

The king looked immensely relieved.

"Of course, Clarisse, I´ll be in my office, I will see you for dinner then."

He bent down and gently kissed her cheek and Clarisse was far too confused to tell him off for touching her.

Rupert left the room and Clarisse sank back against the sofa, she couldn´t believe what had just happened, what on earth was she going to tell Josef now, she knew he had given up all hope of ever having a family of his own and chosen to love her instead, she had to tell him what Rupert had said- but what if Josef didn´t understand, what if he thought that he had been right from the start and that Clarisse was only looking for a way to reconcile with her husband?

What if he didn´t want her anymore after she had informed him about Rupert´s so called ´proposition`?

But if she didn´t tell him and he found out and he would be furious and tell her that he would have wanted the chance to be a father?

´Leave it to Rupert to somehow mess things up even more´ the queen smiled sarcastically to herself, then decided to see how Phillippe was getting along with Mia, the prince had taken his daughter to his office with him and Clarisse knew from experience how much trouble a child could be when the parent wanted to concentrate on their work.

Walking quickly down the corridor she sincerely hoped she wouldn´t bump into Josef on the way, she needed to sort out her feelings and think about a way to deal with the situation before she could face him again.


End file.
